Amblyseius largoensis (Muma)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Mohéli Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 94-114 : 99-100

Amblyseius largoensis (Muma)

Amblyseiopsis largoensis Muma 1955: 266 .

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) largoensis, Chant 1959: 96 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseialus) largoensis, Muma 1961: 287 .

Typhlodromus largoensis, Hirschmann 1962: 2 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) largoensis, Ehara 1966: 22 .

Amblyseius largoensis, Swirski & Golan 1967: 225 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 17, 2004b: 33; Chant

& McMurtry 2004: 208, 2007: 78.

Amblyseius magnolia Muma 1961: 289 (synonymy by Denmark & Evans 2011).

Amblyseius sakalava Blommers 1976: 96 (synonymy by Ueckermann & Loots 1988).

Amblyseius amtalaensis Gupta 1977: 53 (synonymy by Gupta 1986).

Amblyseius largoensis belongs to the largoensis species group and to the largoensis species subgroup. It is widespread in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world and was the most abundant species collected by Moraes et al. (2000) in French Caribbean Islands and as a potential BCA of Raoiella indica Hirst in La Réunion Island ( Moraes et al. 2012). Using morphometric analyses of 36 characters, molecular analyses and crossing tests, Navia et al. (2014) studied specimens collected in Brazil, La Réunion Island and Trinidad and Tobago to determine whether A. largoensis populations from different geographic origins belong to the same taxonomic entity. Though differences in the lengths of some setae were observed, molecular analyses and crossing experiments indicated that populations from Indian Ocean and America were conspecific. This species was previously recorded from Rodrigues Island by Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf (2020a), from Mauritius Island by Ferragut and Baumann (2019) and Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf (2020b) and from Mayotte by Kreiter et al. (2020a).

World distribution: this species is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Specimens examined: 24 specimens (16 ♀♀, 5 ♂♂ and 3 imm.) collected during this study. Fomboni, inside the town (15 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 29 ″ S, 43°44 ′ 35 ″ E), 11 ♀♀, 4 ♂♂ and 1 imm. on Terminalia mantaly H. Perrier (Combretaceae) , 1 imm. on Pentas lanceolata (Forskål) Deflers (Rubiaceae) and 1 ♀ on Artocarpus altilis J.R. Forster and G. Forster (Moraceae) , 2/XII/2018 ; Bandar­Es­Salam, Les Abous Inn (23 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 37 ″ S, 43°45 ′ 27 ″ E), 2 ♀♀,

1 ♂ and 1 imm. on Citrus limon (L.) Burman ( Rutaceae ), 2/XII/2018 ; Hoani, inside village

(38 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 3 ″ S, 43°44 ′ 34 ″ E), 2 ♀♀ on Amaranthus viridis L. ( Amaranthaceae ), 3/XII/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of the Mohéli specimen fit well with those given in Zannou et al. (2007) for specimens from Africa, Navia et al. (2014) for specimens from Brazil, La Réunion and Trinidad & Tobago, by Ferragut and Baumann (2019) and Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf (2020b) for specimens from Mauritius Island and by Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf (2020a) for specimens from Rodrigues Island.