Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 120-121

Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor)

Typhlodromus californicus McGregor 1954: 89 .

Amblyseius californicus, Schuster & Pritchard 1963: 271 .

Cydnodromus californicus, Athias-Henriot 1977: 62 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) californicus, Ueckermann & Loots 1988: 150 ; Ehara et al. 1994: 126.

Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) californicus, Ehara & Amano 1998: 33 .

Neoseiulus californicus, Moraes et al. 1986: 73 ; Chant & McMurtry 2003a: 21; Moraes et al. 2004a: 109; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 25; Guanilo et al. 2008a: 27 , 2008b: 19 .

Neoseiulus chilenensis Dosse 1958: 55 (synonymy according to McMurtry & Badii 1989). Neoseiulus mungeri McGregor 1954: 92 (synonymy according to Schuster & Pritchard 1963). Neoseiulus wearnei Schicha 1987: 103 (Synonymy according to Tixier et al. 2014).

Like the previous species, N. californicus belongs also to the cucumeris species group of Neoseiulus ( Chant and McMurtry 2003a) .

This widespread species (Moraes et al. 2004; Demite et al. 2019) is considered by McMurtry and Croft (1997) to be a specialized predator, Type 2. Nevertheless, it has characteristics of both specialist and generalist predatory mites ( Castagnoli and Simoni 2003). It prefers to feed on spider mites (Gomez et al. 2009), but can also consume other mite species like tarsonemid mites [ Phytonemus pallidus (Banks) ] ( Easterbrook et al. 2001), small insects such as thrips ( Rodriguez-Reina et al. 1992) and even pollen when the primary prey is unavailable ( Rhodes and Liburd 2006). It can migrate from grasses to fruit trees or grapevines and vice versa ( Auger et al. 1999). It is a specialist predator of T. urticae on annual plants and woody species, and of Panonychus ulmi (Koch) and various Tetranychus spp. (and perhaps eriophyid mites) on trees and less frequently on grapevines ( Auger et al. 1999). N. californicus is well-known as a BCA sold in many countries around the world for the management of spider mites in greenhouses but also in outdoor crops such as fruit crops in Europe. This is the first mention of that species for La Réunion Island.

Sources of measurements – Australia: Schicha (1977); -: not provided.

Specimens examined: 18 ♀♀ + 2 ♂♂ in total, 14 ♀♀ + 2 ♂♂ measured. Ravine des Cabris – Ligne des Bambous , Lassay (aasl 221 m, Long 55°29’38” E, Lat 21°17’17” S), 1 ♀ on Amaranthus viridis L., 5/12/2016; Le Tampon – Grand Tampon (aasl 1100 m, Long 55°34’12” E, Lat 21°16’48” S), 6 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ on Cyperus rotundus L., 1 ♀ + 1 ♂ on Plantago lanceolata L. and 1 ♀ on Solanum mauritianum Scop. , 18/1/2017 ; Montvert-les-Hauts – EARL Le Mont Vert farm (aasl 582 m, Long 55°32’19” E, Lat 21°19’42” S), 1 ♀ on Fragaria sp., 4/8/2015, 1 ♀ on C. annuum , 23/8/2016 ; Le 19 e – Plaine des Caffres, JL Robert farm (aasl 1000 m, Long 55°32’9” E, Lat 21°14’16” S), 1 ♀ on Physalis peruviana L., and 2 ♀♀ on Emilia sonchifolia (L.) DC., 15/12/2015 ; Saint-Pierre – Bassin-Plat CIRAD Research Station (aasl 153 m, Long 55°29’18” E, Lat 21°19’25” S), 4 ♀♀ in plots BM and CC, 4/4/2017 .

Remarks: measurements of characters of the 14 female specimens ( Table 4 ) fit well with those obtained for populations of other countries, such as those obtained from Tixier et al. (2008).

Values of measurements of La Réunion specimens are generally only slightly smaller (few percents variations). The same remark can be addressed for the adult male specimens ( Table 4 ).

Comparisons with N. californicus measurements of a large number of female ( Table 4 ) specimens of various origins in Beaulieu and Beard (2018) shows shorter dimensions of all characters of La Réunion specimens (all ranges of La Réunion specimens are in the lower parts of the ranges mentioned by these authors).

This is interesting to notice that it is not the case for males ( Table 4 ), measurements of male specimens from La Réunion covering ranges or being in the middle of ranges mentioned by Beaulieu and Beard (2018) in their redescription.