Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers, 1974

Ma, Min, Fan, Qing-Hai & Zhang, Zhi-Qiang, 2019, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) of the Cook Islands, Zootaxa 4646 (3), pp. 527-540 : 530

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers, 1974

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) tamatavensis Blommers, 1974: 144 .

Diagnosis. Female: dorsal idiosomal shield smooth throughout; bearing 17 pairs of setae, all (except Z4) smooth, Z4 serrated; j3 longer than j1, but shorter than s4; s4 shorter than Z4, Z5 extremely long and whip-like, Z4 about 1.3 times as long as Z5. Sternal shield and epigynal shield smooth. Peritremes extending beyond bases of j1. Ventrianal shield pentagonal, smooth, bearing three pairs of pre-anal setae, solenostomes gv3 medial to JV2. Calyx of spermathecal apparatus and major duct tube-like, atrium as wide as both calyx and major duct. Cheliceral movable digit with four teeth, fixed digit with 10 teeth. Legs I and II each with one macroseta on genu; leg III with two macrosetae, leg IV with three bluntly tipped macrosetae, seta on tibiae approximately as long as seta on basitarsus, slightly longer than 2/3 of seta on genu.

Specimens examined. Rarotonga: 1 female, ex. very young pawpaw ( Carica papaya ), 25 May 1992, by J. G. Charles (#92-161); Totokoitu Research Station, 1 female, ex. passion fruit ( Passiflora sp.), 28 May 1992, same collector (#92-163a).

Remarks. This species was originally described from papeda ( Citrus hystrix ) in Madagascar ( Blommers 1974). It is also known from more than 30 countries in the Afrotropical, Australasian, Neotropical, Oriental, and Palaearctic regions ( Moraes et al. 2004; Demite et al. 2018). It is now recorded from the Cook Islands for the first time.