Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 127

Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans)

Typhlodromus longispinosus Evans 1952: 413 ; Evans 1953: 465; Womersley 1954: 177; Ehara 1958: 55.

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) longispinosus, Chant 1959: 74 .

Amblyseius longispinosus, Corpuz & Rimando 1966: 129 ; Schicha 1975: 103.

Neoseiulus longispinosus, Moraes et al. 1986: 85 ; 2000: 245; Chant & McMurtry 2003a: 37; Moraes et al. 2004a: 129; Chant and McMurtry 2007: 29.

This species belongs to the barkeri species group like N. barkeri (see above). It belongs to the womersleyi species subgroup as the calyx is markedly constricted at the junction with the atrium, the atrium is deeply forked at the junction with the major duct, and the major duct, atrium and calyx are not of the same width ( Chant and McMurtry 2003a).

This species is distributed in many countries of the world, mainly in tropical areas ( Moraes et al. 2000; Mailloux et al. 2010; Kreiter et al. 2013, 2018 a, c; Demite et al. 2019). It was found rarely in surveys made in Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Réunion except in studies on companion plants in citrus orchards ( Mailloux et al. 2010; Kreiter et al. 2013, 2018c; Le Bellec et al., unpub. data). This species seems actually to be more common on weeds with populations of tetranychid mites. Neoseiulus longispinosus , a type II phytoseiid predatory mite, as is N. californicus ( McMurtry et al. 2013) , has received increasing attention in Asia for the control of different spider mites (of Eutetranychus , Oligonychus , and Tetranychus ) since 2010 ( Nusartlert et al. 2011). The feeding, development, predation, cannibalism, intra-guild predation and behaviour have thus been extensively studied by several authors (see for example Luong et al. 2017) for pest control purposes. Neoseiulus longispinosus is well-known as a BCA sell in several countries in the world for the management of spider mites. The recent results of Huyen et al. (2017) show that at least in controlled laboratory conditions, N. longispinosus is a potential biological control agent against the citrus red spider mite P. citri .

This is the first record of this species for La Réunion Island.

Specimens examined: 37 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ + 4 im. in total, 18 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ measured. Saint-Paul – Savannah (aasl 61 m, Long 55°29’43” E, Lat 21°20’41” S), 8 ♀♀ in flowers of Phaseolus vulgaris L. 28/07/2015 ; Saint-Pierre – Eastern entrance of the city (aasl 61 m, Long 55°29’43” E, Lat 21°20’41” S), 1 ♀ on Ricinus communis L., 16/12/2015; Ravine des Cabris – Ligne des Bambous, Lassay (aasl 221 m, Long 55°29’38” E, Lat 21°17’17” S), 1 ♀ on Solanum torvum Swartz , 2/12/2016; 1 ♀ + 1 ♂ + 1 im. on Mirabilis jalapa L., 4/12/2016; Saint-Pierre – Bassin Martin, ARMEFLHOR Station (aasl 450 m, Long 55°31’9” E, Lat 21°18’14” S), 11 ♀♀ on Fragaria sp. + A. viridis , 18/1/2017; Saint-Gilles – Pépinières du Théâtre (aasl 70 m, Long 56°13’58” E, Lat 21°2’50” S), 1 ♀ on A. viridis , 14/2/2017; Saint-Pierre – Bassin-Plat CIRAD Research Station (aasl 153 m, Long 55°29’18” E, Lat 21°19’25” S), 1 ♀ in plot H, 16/12/2016; 1 ♀ on B. pilosa , 2 ♀♀ + 1 im. on M. repens , 1 ♀ on Ipomoea obscura (L.), 1 ♀ on Teramnus labialis (L.f.), 12/2/2017; 1 ♀ + 2 im. on I. obscura , 1 ♀ on Digitaria radicosa (J. Presl) , 30/3/2017; 6 ♀♀ in plots CC, M, HM and H, 3 and 6/04/2017 .

Remarks: measurements of specimens of La Réunion females and males ( Table 6 ) overlap with those obtained for populations of various countries. Measurements are slightly greater than those obtained on specimens of F.C.I. except for setae j4, J2, z5, StIV. On Comoros specimens, setae are longer except sternal shield length (st1-st3), inguinal sigilla (metapodal plates) and of macrosetae of basitarsus IV.