Typhlodromalus spinosus

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Mohéli Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 94-114 : 103-104

Typhlodromalus spinosus (Meyer & Rodrigues)

Amblyseius spinosus Meyer & Rodrigues 1966: 30 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 31.

Kampimodromus spinosus, Quilici et al. 2000: 100 .

Typhlodromalus spinosus, Moraes et al. 2004b: 204 ; Chant & McMurtry 2005a: 199, 2007:

111.

This species belongs to the athiasae species group as setae J1 and S5 are absent. This species group contains six species ( Chant and McMurtry 2005 a, Moraes et al. 2006).

Typhlodromalus spinosus was collected from Eastern, Western, but mainly Southern Africa and La Réunion ( Demite et al. 2020). The rapid multiplication of this species on the western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande , was confirmed and clear evidence that T. spinosus predates on WFT under laboratory and field conditions, but not T on. urticae ( Mwangi et al. 2015) . It seems abundant in low vegetation as it was found in high populations in a study of companion plants in a citrus orchard (Le Bellec et al. unpub. data).

This species have never been record from Guadeloupe or Martinique in similar studies, but it is interesting to notice that in those islands, another Typhlodromalus was collected, T. peregrinus (Muma) ( Mailloux et al. 2010 ; Kreiter et al. 2013, 2018c). Typhlodromalus spinosus was recorded from La Réunion by Quilici et al. (2000) and was then find in quite

Characters Mohéli (1) (this study) Mozambique (?) Characters Mohéli (1) (this study) Mozambique (?)

Dsl 233 – st1-st1 55 –

Dsw 155 – st2-st2 60 –

j1 23 – st3-st3 55 –

j3 12 9 st1-st5 100 –

j4 8 9 st4-st4 48 –

j5 7 9 st5-st5 34 –

j6 8 9 Vsl 93 –

J2 9 10 Vsw ZV2 135 –

J5 4 6 – 7 Vsw anus 73 –

r3 15 – gv3 – gv3 24 –

R1 9 – JV5 26 –

s4 14 19 SgeI 18 –

S2 10 10 SgeII 23 25

S4 9 10 SgeIII 26 25

S5 8 9 StiIII 23 28

z2 10 10 SgeIV 43 42

z4 9 11 StiIV 30 31

z5 8 9 StIV 55 55

Z1 9 9 Fdl 21 –

Z4 10 9 No teeth Fd Not visible –

Z5 43 43 Mdl 23 –

No teeth Md Not visible –

Shaft 15 – Branch 7 –

Sources of measurements – Mozambique paratypes: Meyer & Rodrigues (1966) ; –: not provided.

high numbers by Kreiter et al. (2020d) and in lower numbers from Mauritius Island ( Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf 2020b).

World distribution: Benin, Burundi Dr Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, La Réunion Island.

Specimens examined: four specimens (2 ♀♀ and 2 ♂♂) collected during this study. Hoani, inside village (38 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 3 ″ S, 43°44 ′ 34 ″ E), 2 ♀♀ and 2 ♂♂ on Amaranthus viridis L. ( Amaranthaceae ), 3/XII/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of our specimens fit well measurements in Kreiter et al. (2020d). This species was described from Mozambique ( Meyer and Rodrigues 1966), then mentioned in the Indian Ocean from la Réunion ( Quilici et al. 2000 ; Kreiter et al. 2020d), Mauritius ( Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf 2020b) and more recently from Anjouan ( Kreiter et al. 2021).