Amblyseius largoensis (Muma)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Mouigni, Hadji, Douin, Martial, Tixier, Marie-Stéphane & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, New records of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Grande Comore Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (2), pp. 241-273 : 251

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).

Like the previous species, A. largoensis belongs to the largoensis species group and to the largoensis species subgroup ( Chant and McMurtry 2004).

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 Caribean were conspecific. This species was previously recorded from Mauritius Island by Ferragut and Baumann (2019) and Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf (2020b), from Rodrigues Island by Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf (2020a), from Mayotte Island by Kreiter et al. (2020a) and Anjouan and Mohéli Islands ( Kreiter et al. 2021a ; Kreiter et al., 2021b).

World distribution: this species is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Americas, Asia and the Pacific Islands. It is also present in several Islands of the Indian Ocean (Rodrigues Island, Mauritius Island, Mayotte Island, Anjouan Island and Mohéli Island).

Specimens examined: 3 specimens (1 ♀ and 2 ♂♂) collected during this study. Moroni

(171 m aasl, lat. 11°40 ′ 47 ″ S, long. 43°16 ′ 27 ″ E), 1 ♀ and 1 ♂ on Clidemia hirta (L.) Don ( Melastomataceae ) and 1 ♂ on Bidens pilosa L. ( Asteraceae ), 9/XII/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of the Grande Comore specimens fit well with those given for specimens from Africa, Brazil, La Réunion, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius Island, Rodrigues Island, Mayotte Island, Anjouan Island and from Mohéli Island ( Zannou et al. 2007 ; Navia et al. 2014 ; Ferragut & Baumann 2019 ; Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf 2020a, 2020b; Kreiter et al. 2020a, 2021a, 2021b).