Sierraphytoptus ambulans, Chetverikov, Philipp E. & Sukhareva, Sogdiana I., 2009

Chetverikov, Philipp E. & Sukhareva, Sogdiana I., 2009, A revision of the genus Sierraphytoptus Keifer 1939 (Eriophyoidea, Phytoptidae), Zootaxa 2309, pp. 30-42 : 34-38

Sierraphytoptus ambulans sp. n.,

Fig. 2

Phyllocoptes setiger Liro, 1941:42 , fig. 31

Fragariocoptes setiger Roivainen, 1951:51 , fig. 22

Sierraphytoptus setiger Bagdasarian and Pogosova, 1976:223 –226, fig.1; Bagdasarian 1981:26 –29, fig. 4

Female (holotype). Body fusiform, light orange, 178 (155–201), 56 (52–59) wide, 57 (54–59) thick. Prodorsal shield with two curved admedian lines at the end connected with four short lines. Median line missing. Thin transverse line near posterior shield margin ( Fig. 2 D, AD). Prodorsal shield 40 (36–44), 49 (46–52) wide, frontal lobe 4 (3–4). External vertical setae ve 9 (8–10), their tubercles 27 (26–28) apart, situated in a small hollow under the antero-lateral shield margin; scapular setae sc 6 (6–8), directed upward and centrally, their tubercles 18 (15–19) apart. Gnathosoma 20 (19–21), directed downward. Dorsal pedipalp genual setae d simple.

Leg I 30 (27–31), tibia 5 (5–5), l' - 3 (2–5), tarsus 6 (6–7), ω - 10 (9–11), empodium simple, 4-rayed; leg II 26 (25–29), tibia 5 (4–6) long, l' absent, tarsus 6 (5–7) long, ω - 9 (9–10) long, without knob, empodium simple, 4-rayed ( Fig. 2 L1, L2, em). Setae bv present. Coxae with numerous thin short lines. Sternal line 9 (9– 11), bifurcated anteriorly. Rounded plate with two longitudinal lines and one transverse line situated in front of coxae I ( Fig. 2 CG). Setae 1b 8 (7–10), 10 (9–10) apart; 1a 17 (12–23), 8 (8–9) apart; 2a - 33 (31–38), 21 (18–22) apart. Genitalia 13 (12–16), 17 (16–20) wide; genital coverflap with 8–12 longitudinal ridges situated anteriorly ( Fig. 2 CG); setae 3a 16 (14–19).

Opisthosoma with 23 (22–27) slightly serrated smooth dorsal annuli, 53 (48–55) microtuberculate ventral annuli, 5–6 coxogenital annuli. Setae c1 16 (13–19) on 3 (3) annulus; setae c2 35 (31–37) on 9 (8–11) annulus; setae d 30 (30–36) on annulus 20 (18–24); setae e 19 (16–23) on annulus 32 (28–36); setae f 26 (24– 27) on 4th ventral annulus from rear. Seta h1 present.

Male: not found.

Type material. Female holotype (slide # 53), 9 females paratypes (on the same slide) from Fragaria vesca L. ( Rosaceae ) [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Leningrad Province, Gatchina district, fir-forest on the right bank of river Oredezh near station Vyritza, 59°23.6' N, 30°18.3' E, 21 September 2008, collected by Ph. E. Chetverikov. Type material is deposited in the collection of the Laboratory of Phytoacarology (Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological and Soil Sciences Faculty, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia).

Additional material. 2 deutogyne female and 11 protogyne females (slide # 3-09) from F. vesca [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Leningrad Province, Gatchina district, fir-forest on the right bank of river Oredezh near station Vyritza, 59°23.6' N, 30°18.3' E, 19 May 2009, leg. Ph. E. Chetverikov; 1 deutogyne female, 3 protogyne females and 2 nymphs (slide # 3/1-09), the same host, locality and leg., 2 June 2009; 16 protogyne females and 8 nymphs (slide # 39-09), the same host, locality and leg., 26 July 2009; 38 protogyne females and 12 nymphs (slides # 32-08 and # 53-08), the same host, locality and leg., 21 September 2008.

2 protogyne females (slide # 6-09) from F. vesca . [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Leningrad Province, Kingisepp district, fir-forest on the bank of Kopanskoye Lake, 59°70.0' N, 28°70.8' E, 10 June 2009, leg. Ph. E. Chetverikov;

29 females and 12 nymphs (in slides ## 35-08, 36-08, 37-08) from F. v e s c a [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Leningrad Province, Vyborg district, pine-forest near station Yappilya, 62°38'03'' N, 27°43'08'' E, 7 September 2008 leg. Ph. E. Chetverikov; 22 females and 7 nymphs (in slides ## 42-08, 48-08, 49-08, 50-08 and 51-08) from F. v e s c a [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], the same host, locality and leg., 11 September 2008;

4 overwintered females (slide # 1-09) from F. vesca [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Leningrad Province, Luga district, pine-forest on the right side of the highway M-20 near village Zheltzy, 58°82'34'' N, 29°91'04'' E, 4 May 2009, leg. Ph. E. Chetverikov;

5 overwintered females (slide # 2-09) from F. viridis [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Altajskiy kraj, left bank of river Loktevka near village Kurya, 51°59'41'' N, 82°28'43'' E, 2 May 2009, leg. P. G. Efimov;

1 protogyne female, 1 male and 3 nymphs (slide # 39-09) from F. viridis [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Zabaykalsky Krai, Aginskoye district, birch-forest on the right side of the highway A166, 51 °12'75'' N, 114°39'56'' E, 20 July 2009, leg. A.N.Baranova.

5 protogyne females, 1 male and 2 nymphs (slide # 42-09) from F. viridis [lower leaf surface, no visible damage observed], RUSSIA: Ural region, Sverdlovsk Province, suburb of Pervouralsk, 59°98'06'' N, 56°94'03'' E, 0 7 September 2009, leg. N.Bannikov.

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin verb ambulo (“wander”) and is a Partisipium Praesentis Activi (Active Present Participle).

Differential diagnosis. The vagrant mite S. ambulans sp. n. is very close to the gall-making mite S. setiger . They are distinguished by the number of dorsal annuli (22–27 in S. ambulans versus 32–38 in S. setiger ), length of the setae c1 (13–19 versus 22–36) and length (155–201 versus 185–247) and form of the body (compact fusiform versus elongated, almost worm-like). Besides these species have a different life-style: S. ambulans are vagrant on the lower leaf surface whereas S. setiger form red galls on leaves.

Distribution. Finland, North-West Russia, Ural region and South Siberia (Altayskiy Kray and Zabaykalsky Krai) of Russia, Armenia. Lastly, it was realized that the species previously identified as S.

setiger , found 21.VIII.1988 as vagrant on the lower leave surface of F. vesca on Mt. Durmitor, Montenegro ( Petanović et al. 1996) belongs to S. ambulans (Petanović, personal communication).

Hosts. In North-West Russia and Fennoscandia S. ambulans mainly live on F vesca . To the south of these territories mites S. ambulans also live on F. viridis and one more unidentified species of Fragaria .

Deuterogyny of S. ambulans . During 1965–1967 from March till August Bagdasarian and Pogosova (1976) collected this species from Fragaria sp. in Armenia ( Table 1 ) and described deutogyne and protogyne females. According to their data the deutogyne and protogyne females slightly differ only in length and width of the body and length of setae ve and sc ( Table 3).

From May till August 2009 we observed S. ambulans from F. vesca collected on 1 May and transferred to laboratory in order to get new data concerning their biology. In the beginning of May only single, bright orange, egg-laying deutogyne females were found in the folds of young leaves. Protogyne females then appeared after mid-May. All protogynes were morphologically identical to the deutogynes but they were light orange and it was easier to clarify them in Berlese medium: overwintered females usually were more turbid in slides than summer ones, and the design on their prodorsal shields was less distinct. In June, July and August all mites fed on and laid eggs only on the lower leaf surface; no visible damage was registered on leaves.

Characteristics Deutogyne females Protogyne females Date of collection 9, 30 March 1966 8 June 1965 Length of body 150–175 180–220 Width of body 50–60 60–70

Length of ve (s.d.1) 7–8 6–7

Length of sc (s.d.2) 8–9 7–8

Figures

FIGURE 2. Sierraphytoptus ambulans sp. n., female. D—female in dorsal view, AD—prodorsal shield, CGcoxogenital region, em—empodium and tarsal solenidion (enlarge), L 1 — leg I, L 2 — leg II. Scale: D = 60 µm; AD, CG, L 1, L 2 = 40 µm; D = 20 µm.