Amblyseius herbicolus ( Chant, 1959 )

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

Amblyseius herbicolus ( Chant, 1959)

( Figure 1D )

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) herbicolus Chant, 1959: 84 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) herbicolus . — Muma, 1961: 287.

Typhlodromus herbicolus . — Hirschmann, 1962: 23.

Diagnosis. This species is very similar to Amblyseius fijiensis in many aspects, but its female can be differentiated from the latter by having an expanded spermathecal atrium, the calyx of spermathecal apparatus long and narrow and gradually flaring terminally, and the major duct elongate and tubular. Cheliceral fixed digit with 11 teeth.

Specimens examined. Rarotonga: Papua stream, 1 female, ex. bitter melon ( Momordica charantia ) leaves, 22 October 2017, by Q.-H. Fan; 3 females, ex. Sanchezia speciosa leaves, same locality, date and collector .

Remarks. This species was originally described from bromeliad imported from Portugal in USA ( Chant 1959). It is also known from more than 40 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.

Figures

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