Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers, 1974

Kreiter, Serge & Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A., 2020, Phytoseiid mites of Rodrigues Island (Acari: Mesostigmata), Acarologia 60 (2), pp. 449-468 : 457-458

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers 1974: 144 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 31, 2004: 52; Denmark & Muma 1989: 13; Chant & McMurtry 2004: 203, 2007: 81; Ehara & Amano 2004: 17.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) tamatavensis, Ehara 2002: 33 ; Ehara & Amano 2002: 322.

Amblyseius maai Tseng 1976: 123 (synonymy according to Denmark & Muma 1989).

Amblyseius aegyptiacus Denmark & Matthysse in Matthysse & Denmark 1981: 343 (synonymy according to Denmark & Muma 1989).

This species belongs to the obtusus species group as setae J2 and Z1 are present, setae z4 are minute and the female ventrianal shield is not vase-shaped or divided. It belongs to the aerialis species subgroup (46 species) as the calyx of the spermatheca is tubular ( Chant and McMurtry 2004).

It seems to fit the functional type III-b (generalist predators living on glabrous leaves) group defined by McMurtry et al. (2013). Cavalcante et al. (2017) reported this species as a promising natural enemy of B. tabaci . Experimental releases of this predator on caged plants in a screenhouse caused the reduction of the density of B. tabaci on pepper plants by up to 60-80% ( Massaro and Moraes 2019). It can be easily produced in large numbers ( Massaro et al. 2018) when fed with astigmatine mites, which could allow the mass production for augmentative biological control. This species is reported from tropical areas from over 20 countries around the world (Africa, Asia, America and Oceania). It was recorded in La Réunion ( Quilici et al. 2000).

World distribution: this species was described from Madagascar, but is actually widely distributed in several countries of tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Specimens examined: 5 ♀♀ in total. Graviers (5 m aasl, lat. 19°43 ′ 37 ″ S, long. 63°28 ′ 59 ″ E), 5 ♀♀ on Capsicum annuum L. ( Solanaceae ), 16/XI/2020.

Remarks: this species was described from Madagascar (Blommers 1974), then mentioned in the Indian Ocean from La Réunion Island ( Quilici et al. 2000) and recently from Mauritius ( Ferragut and Baumann 2019). Morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of our specimens fit well with measurements in Blommers (1974), Ferragut and Baumann (2019) and Kreiter et al. (2020c).