Typhlodromus ( Anthoseius ) transvaalensis (Nesbitt)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Anjouan Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 62-83 : 78

Typhlodromus ( Anthoseius) transvaalensis (Nesbitt)

Kampimodromus transvaalensis Nesbitt 1951: 55 .

Neoseiulus transvaalensis, Muma 1961: 295 .

Clavidromus transvaalensis, Muma & Denmark 1968: 238, 1970: 128 ; Moraes et al. 1986:

182.

Typhlodromus transvaalensis, Chant & Baker 1965: 5 ; Schicha 1981a: 36 ; Moraes et al. 2004b: 355 ; Chant & McMurtry 1994: 252, 2007: 157.

Typhlodromus jackmickleyi, De Leon 1958: 75 ; van Der Merwe 1968: 23 (synonymy according to Muma & Denmark 1968).

Typhlodromus pectinatus, Athias­Henriot 1958: 179 (synonymy according to Muma & Denmark 1968).

This species has elongate serrated dorsal setae, setae Z1 and JV3 absent, an elongate calyx of the spermatheca, leg IV with 3 macrosetae and few teeth on chelicerae. It belongs to the transvaalensis species group of the subgenus Anthoseius of the genus Typhlodromus ( Chant and McMurtry 1994) .

According to McMurtry et al. (2013), T. ( A.) transvaalensis is a type III phytoseiid and a generalist predator that feeds on mites, insects and pollen. It completed its life cycle when fed on the eriophyid mites Eriophyes dioscoridis Soliman and Abou­Awad and Eriophyes olive Zaher and Abou­Awad , eggs of the scale insect Parlatoria zizyphus (Lucas) and pollen of Ricinus communis L. in experimental conditions. The percentage of individuals attaining maturity was less than 20% when nymphs of the tetranychid mite, T. urticae Koch , were provided.

The development was faster and reproduction was higher when T. ( A.) transvaalensis fed on eriophyid mites. T. urticae was an unsuitable feeding for reproduction of the phytoseiid. The daily reproduction was as low as 0.4 and 0.8 egg/ female/ day when females were maintained on pollen grains of R. communis and eggs of P. zizyphus . The adult female daily consumed 126,

97 and 6 individuals of E. olivi , E. dioscoridis and T. urticae , respectively ( Momen and Hussein 1999). Adult female T. ( A.) transvaalensis were more efficient at predating all stages of P. latus (Banks) than Tetranychus bastosi Tuttle, Baker and Sales. The T. ( A.) transvaalensis life cycle was shorter with diets including R. communis pollen, but Zea mays L. pollen was also suitable for reproduction. The results indicate that T. ( A.) transvaalensis is a generalist predator with high potential for controlling P. latus in Jatropha curcas L. plantations and that the presence of R. communis and Z. mays crops boosts its development and reproduction ( Cañarte et al. 2017). This species is widely distributed all over the world ( Demite et al. 2020). It was recorded from

La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean ( Quilici et al. 2000, Kreiter et al. 2020d).

Specimens examined: 25 specimens ( 13 ♀♀, 9 ♂♂ and 3 imm.) collected during this study. Chandra, inside the village ( 448 m aasl, 12°11 ′ 56 ″ S, 44°27 ′ 52 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Vitis vinifera

L. ( Vitaceae ), 29/XI/2018 ; Pomoni, exit of the village ( 34 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 01 ″ S, 44°24 ′ 52 ″

E), 11 ♀, 9 ♂♂ and 1 imm. on Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae ), 2 imm. on Sygygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill and Perry ( Myrtaceae ) and 1 ♀ on Hibiscus tiliaceus L. ( Malvaceae ), 30/XI/2018.