Phytoseius haroldi Ueckermann & Kreiter, 2002

Kreiter, Serge & Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A., 2020, New records of phytoseiid mites from Mauritius Island (Acari: Mesostigmata, Acarologia 60 (3), pp. 520-545 : 538

Phytoseius haroldi Ueckermann & Kreiter

Phytoseius haroldi Ueckermann & Kreiter in Kreiter et al. 2002: 339; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 129.

This species belongs to the horridus species group as setae J2 and R1 are absent ( Chant and McMurtry 1994). It was described by Ueckermann and Kreiter in Kreiter et al. (2002). It was abundant on lower vegetation in a study of companion plants in citrus orchards in La Réunion Island ( Kreiter et al. 2020c). It seems that this species prefers low plants, but despite this observation has to be confirmed, its biology remains totally unknown. This is the second report in Mauritius after recent report by Ferragut and Baumann (2019).

World distribution: La Réunion Island, Mauritius Island.

Specimens examined: 2 ♀♀ and 1 ♂ in total. Plaisance (aasl 55 m, lat. 20°25 ′ 59 ″ S, long. 57°40 ′ 44 ″ E), 2 ♀♀ on Litsea monopetala (Roxburgh) Person (Lauraceae) , 31/X/2018; Morne-Brabant (aasl 249 m, lat. 20°22 ′ 05 ″ S, long. 57°29 ′ 31 ″ E), 1 ♂ on Lantana camara L. ( Verbenaceae ), 5/XI/2018.

Remarks: this species was described by Ueckermann and Kreiter in Kreiter et al. (2002) from La Réunion Island. Morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of our specimens fit well measurements of the original description in Kreiter et al. (2002) concerning specimens from La Réunion Island, Ferragut and Baumann (2019) for specimens from Mauritius, and Kreiter et al. (2020c) for additional specimens from La Réunion Island.