Ueckermannseius eastafricae Moraes, Zannou & Oliveira, 2006

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Mohéli Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 94-114 : 104-105

Ueckermannseius eastafricae Moraes, Zannou & Oliveira

Ueckermannseius eastafricae Moraes et al. 2006: 30 .

This species was described from Uganda and Kenya ( Moraes et al. 2006) and recovered only once in Kenya ( El­Banhawy et al. 2009). Its biology is totally unknown.

World distribution: Kenya, Uganda.

Characters Mohéli (1) Africa (5) Kenya (?) South Africa (5) Characters Mohéli (1) Africa (5) Kenya (?) South Africa (5) (this study) (this study) Dsl 318 367 (336 – 384) 320 350 – 355 Gensl 115 – – 80 – 84 Dsw 213 264 (238 – 285) 240 226 – 236 Gensw st5 70 – – – j1 30 25 (21 – 27) 22 25 Gensw post. corn. 78 – 87 67 – 70 j3 11 10 (10 – 13) 5 15 St 5- St 5 64 78 (70 – 86) – – j4 8 8 (5– 10) 5 9 Lisl 25 – – – j5 8 7 (5 – 10) 5 9 Lsiw 3 – – – j6 8 9 (8 – 11) 5 12 Vsl 103 104 (96 – 112) 96 93 J2 8 10 (8 – 11) 5 12 vsw ZV2 60 58 (53 – 62) – – J5 8 8 (6 – 10) 7 9 Vsw anus 58 65 (58 – 72) 70 65 r3 11 15 (14 – 15) 12 17 gv3 – gv3 33 – – – R1 9 13 (13 – 14) 12 17 JV5 40 – 28 37 – 39 s4 broken 18 14 20 SgeI 25 – – – S2 broken 18 12 17 – 19 SgeII 23 22 (19 – 24) – – S4 broken 16 12 17 – 19 SgeIII 38 37 (35 – 40) – – S5 broken 15 (14 – 15) 9 15 StiIII 28 29 (26 – 32) – – z2 10 11 (8 – 14) 12 15 SgeIV 65 66 (61 – 70) 80 66 – 68 z4 10 11 (8 – 14) 12 14 StiIV 51 56 (51 – 62) 65 54 – 56 z5 8 9 (6 – 10) 9 12 StIV 63 63 (53 – 72) 82 66 – 70 Z1 10 11 (8 – 14) 9 15 scl 35 42 (38 – 45) 45 33 – 38 Z4 broken 26 9 17 – 19 scw – – – – Z5 23 36 (34 – 38) 25 26 – 29 Fdl 25 27 (25 – 28) – – St 1- St 1 58 – – – No teeth Fdl Not visible 3 3 3 – 4 * St 1- St 3 53 62 (58 – 66) 60 – Mdl 28 30 – – St 2- St 2 63 66 (62 – 72) 65 – No teeth Mdl Not visible 1 1 1 * St 3- St 3 70 – – – Sources of measurements – Africa ( Burundi 1♀, Kenya 4♀♀; Rwanda 3♀♀): Moraes et al. (2006) ; Kenya: El-Banhawy & Knapp (2011); South Africa: van der Merwe (1965) & * Ueckermann & Loots St 4- St 4 85 – – – (1988) for number of teeth ; –: not provided.

Specimens examined: 12 specimens (11 ♀♀ and 1 ♂) collected during this study. Bandar­

Es­Salam, Les Abous Inn (23 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 37 ″ S, 43°45 ′ 27 ″ E), 11 ♀♀ and 1 ♂ on Carica papaya L. ( Caricaceae ), 2/XII/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of our specimens ( Table 4) fit well measurements in Moraes et al. (2006) for specimens from Africa and above all that of Kreiter et al. (submitted) for specimens from Anjouan. But specimens from Mohéli have shorter setae j4, j5, j6, R1, s4, S2, z2, z4, z5, SgeII, SgeIII and smaller ventrianal shield and cheliceral digits but have longer macrosetae StIV compared to specimens from Africa. Above all, our specimens have pointed macrosetae or slightly rounded macrosetae on leg IV and the original description ( Moraes et al. 2006) mentioned three evidently knobbed macrosetae. As it is the only main difference, we consider this difference as a variation of the character and not enough for considering that our specimens belong to a new species. The male of U. eastafricae was unknown until our collection. The single male collected will be described in a following paper.