Neoseiulus californicus ( McGregor, 1954 )

Liao, Jhih-Rong, Ho, Chyi-Chen & Ko, Chiun-Cheng, 2021, Predatory mites (Acari: Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) intercepted from samples imported to Taiwan, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4927 (3), pp. 301-330 : 306-307

Neoseiulus californicus ( McGregor, 1954)

Typhlodromus californicus McGregor, 1954: 89 .

Neoseiulus californicus .—Beaulieu & Beard, 2018: 462.

Material examined. Japan: three females one male ( HAL 095F372) from Vitis vinifera (Vitaceae) , 26 Aug 2006; one female ( HAL 095F307) from V. vinifera (Vitaceae) , 31 Aug 2006; one female ( HAL 101B180) from Perilla frutescens (Lamiaceae) , 30 Mar 2012.

USA: four females (HAL099C147) from Hydrangea macrophylla (Hydrangeaceae) , 2 Oct 2010; two females ( QAR 101H033) from Fragaria ananassa (Rosaceae) , 12 Sept 2011; two females ( QAR 101H035) from F. ananassa (Rosaceae) , 19 Sept 2011; one female ( QAR 101H030) from Thymes sp. ( Lamiaceae ), 18 Oct 2011; one female ( QAR 102H031) from Prunus persica (Rosaceae) , 7 July 2013.

Chile: three females ( HAL 100B069) from Malus pumila (Rosaceae) , 1 May 2011; three females ( HAL 100B073) from M. pumila (Rosaceae) , 1 May 2011; one female ( HAL 101B186) from M. pumila (Rosaceae) , 30 May 2012; one female ( HAL 101B188) from M. pumila (Rosaceae) , 8 June 2012.

Previous records. Africa: Morocco ( Tixier et al. 2016), Senegal ( Kade et al. 2011), South Africa ( Villiers & Pringle 2011), Tunisia ( Kreiter et al. 2002). Asia: Cyprus ( Vassiliou et al. 2012), China ( Xu et al. 2013; Ji et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020), Japan ( Amano 1994), South Korea (Jung et al. 2006), Syria ( Barbar 2014), Turkey ( Çakmak & Çobanoðlu 2006), Vietnam ( Nguyen et al. 2019). Central America: Guatemala ( McMurtry 1977). Europe: France ( Athias-Henriot 1977), Greece ( Papaioannou-Souliotis et al. 1999), Italy ( Vacante & Nucifora 1987), Portugal ( Ferreira & Carmona 1994), Serbia ( Stojnić et al. 2002), Slovenia ( Bohinc et al. 2018), Spain ( McMurtry 1977). North America: Canada ( Denmark & Evans 2011), Cuba ( Ramirez et al. 1988), Mexico (Estebanes-Gonzale & Rodriguez-Navarro 1998), USA ( McGregor 1954). South America: Argentina ( McMurtry 1977), Brazil ( Ferla & Moraes 1998), Chile ( Athias-Henriot 1977), Colombia ( Moraes & Mesa 1988), Peru ( McMurtry 1977), Venezuela ( Aponte & McMurtry 1993).

Remarks. McGregor (1954) described the species based on male specimen. Numerous acarologists later provided opinions on the species. Beaulieu & Beard (2018) provided a detailed redescription and illustration and designated a neotype of the species. They maintained the species name “ N. californicus ” from the species concept of Athias-Henriot (1977), which is its prevailing usage as commercial products for biological control.

Although the species has characteristics of a Type III generalist predator due to its wider range of food sources (e.g., spider mites, tarsonemid mites, thrips, and pollens), it is almost always associated with tetranychids that produce heavy webbing. Therefore, it is still classified as Type II selective predators of tetranychids ( McMurtry et al. 2013). Moreover, D̂ker et al. (2016) reported that N. californicus can survive in extremely low humidity. EPPO (2020) listed this species as a commercial biological control agent for spider mites and thrips.