Eotetranychus aurantii ( Targioni Tozzetti, 1878 )

K, Philippe Auger, Garrigue, Joseph, Fossoud, Amandine & MigeonK, Alain, 2023, Spider mites (Acariformes, Tetranychidae) of the Massane Nature Reserve (France), Acarologia 63 (2), pp. 306-345 : 335

Eotetranychus aurantii ( Targioni Tozzetti, 1878)

Specimens examined — 3 males, 11 females on Quercus ilex L. ( Fagaceae ), Font dels Alemanys (42.4945°N 3.0283°E, alt. 628 m a.s.l.), MNR, Argelès-sur-Mer (Pyrénées-Orientales), France, 06-VI-2013, leg. A. Migeon & P. Auger; 5 males, 3 females on Q. ilex, Coll de la Plaça d’Armes (42.4945°N 3.0317°E, alt. 687 m a.s.l.), MNR, Argelès-sur-Mer (Pyrénées-Orientales), France, 16-IX-2013, leg. A. Migeon & P. Auger. New spider mire record for France.

This species is only known from topotype material and the original description and figures by Targioni Tozzetti (1878) are very scarce. For this reason, it is not possible to know with certainty if the material collected in this study belongs to this species. As mentioned by Pritchard & Baker (1955) topotype material should be studied to clearly define the status of this species. Nevertheless, we consider that the spider mite species we collected on Q. ilex most probably belongs to this species for the two following reasons: i) the specimens we collected cause erinosis on the undersurface of Q. ilex leaves like E. aurantii whose the Italian name given by Targioni Tozzetti (1878) is “tetranico della erinosi del leccio” meaning the spider mites of evergreen oak erinosis; ii) ; the host plant is the same and is widespread from Tuscany in Italy to French Pyrénées-Orientales and to Catalonia in Spain (see GBIF data here https://www.gbif.org/species/2879098).