Amblyseius largoensis ( Muma, 1955 )

Ma, Min, Fan, Qing-Hai & Zhang, Zhi-Qiang, 2019, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) of the Cook Islands, Zootaxa 4646 (3), pp. 527-540 : 528-529

Amblyseius largoensis ( Muma, 1955)

( Figures 1B & 1C )

Amblyseiopsis largoensis Muma, 1955: 266 .

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) largoensis . — Chant, 1959: 96.

Amblyseius (Amblyseialus) largoensis . — Muma, 1961: 287.

Typhlodromus largoensis . — Hirschmann, 1962: 17.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) largoensis . — Ehara, 1966: 22.

Diagnosis. Female: This species most closely resembles A. fijiensis McMurtry & Schicha and A. herbicolus (Chant) . Its female can be differentiated from these two species by having a parallel-sided calyx of the spermathecal apparatus, and the atrium expanded as that in A. herbicolus . Cheliceral movable digit with three to four teeth, fixed digit with 10−11 teeth.

Specimens examined. Rarotonga: Ara Tapu nr Tevas Villa, 1 female, ex. mango ( Mangifera indica ) leaves, 23 October 2017, by Q.-H. Fan ; 1 female, ex. palm leaves, same locality, date and collector ; 4 females, ex. Cocos sp. leaves, 24 October 2017, same locality and collector; Ministry of Agriculture garden , 1 female, ex. Hibiscus rosasinensis , 22 October 2017, by Q.-H. Fan .

Remarks. This species was originally described from Citrus in Florida, USA ( Muma 1955). It is also known from about 60 countries in the Afrotropical, Australasian, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oriental, and Palaearctic regions ( Moraes et al. 2004; Demite et al. 2018). This cosmopolitan species was previously recorded from the Cook Islands on Hau ( Hibiscus tiliaceus ) ( Collyer 1980). Amblyseius largoensis , A. fijiensis and A. herbicolus closely resemble each other. They are mainly differentiated by the shape of the spermathecal apparatus ( Figure 1 ; Table 1 ).

A. fijiensis A. herbicolus A. largoensis

(n=5) (n=4) (n=7)

Figures

FIGURE 1. Spermathecae of three species of Amblyseius largoensis species group. A. Amblyseius fijiensis; B & C. Amblyseius largoensis; D. Amblyseius herbicolus.