Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) setubali Dosse, 1961

Typhlodromus setubali Dosse, 1961: 313 .

Typhlodromus laurentii .—Ragusa & Swirski, 1978: 213 Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) setubali .—Moraes et al., 2004: 369.

This species, essentially known from the South of the Mediterranean basin, is not very common. It has been rarely reported on crops and nothing is known of its biology. It was already observed in Morocco by McMurtry & Bounfour (1989) on Olea europea, Cupressus sp. and Cynodon dactylon and by Tixier et al. (2003) on vine. Most of the specimens identified here were collected Quercus suber, Nerium oleander and Rosmarinus officinalis .

Specimens examined: 2002, Damon Oum Er Bia River on Marubium incanunum (4 females), Rosmarinus officinalis (Lamiaceae) (9 females, 5 males), Agourai on Vitis vinifera (Vitaceae) (4 females), Beni Slimane on Thuya sp. ( Cupressaceae) (2 females), Cistus mumbyi (Cistaceae) (1 female); 2003, Ras El Ma on unknown plant (3 females), Mazari Cape on Cistus libanotis (Cistaceae) (3 females), Road to Souk El Arba on Quercus suber (Fagaceae) (33 females, 9 males), Nerium oleander (Apocynaceae) (12 females, 7 males), Gorges de Zegzel on Lavandula dentata (Lamiaceae) (4 females).

Previous records: Germany, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Tunisia.

Redescription of the adult female (n = 15) (Figs 5–9)

Dorsum (Fig. 5). Dorsal shield 326 (320–335) long and 161 (157–165) wide, with four solenostomes (gd2, gd6, gd8 and gd9), 17 pairs of dorsal setae and two pairs of sub-lateral setae: j1 24 (22–25), j3 30 (25–30), j4 16 (15–18), j5 16 (15–18), j6 19 (15–23), J2 22 (20–25), J5 5 (5–8), z2 17 (15–18), z3 24 (20–27), z4 24 (20–27), z5 17 (15–18), Z4 44 (40–50), Z5 67 (60–75), s4 30 (25–35), s6 33 (30–37), S2 36 (32–42), S4 36 (30–42), r3 25 (20– 25), R1 23 (18–25). All setae smooth, except Z5, serrated. Peritreme extending between j1 and j3 (Fig. 5).

Venter (Fig. 6). Sternal shield smooth with two pairs of setae and two pairs of lyrifissures; two pairs of sternal setae and lyrifissures (visible on one specimen) on small metasternal plates; posterior margin somewhat straight with posterior projection. Distances between ST1 – ST3 61 (50–65), ST2 – ST2 59 (55–70), ST5–ST5 61 (55–68). Two pairs of metapodal plates 25 (22–26) long, 5 (4–6) wide for the largest and 13 (12–14) long and 3 (2–3) wide for the smallest. Ventri-anal shield with transverse striae, with four pairs of pre-anal setae, JV1, JV2, JV3 and ZV2, and no pre-anal pores. Membrane surrounding ventri-anal shield with four pairs of setae ZV1, ZV3, JV4 and JV5; ventrianal shield 106 (100–110) long, 101 (95–105) wide at anterior corners, and 83 (75–90) wide at level of anus. JV5 55 (48–60) long. No visible lyrifissures near JV5.

Legs (Fig. 7). Leg IV with three macrosetae on the genu, Ge IV 27 (25–28), tibia, STi IV 31 (28–33) and basitarsus ST IV 50 (42–55). Chaetotactic formula of genu II: six setae, 1 2/0, 2/0 1; genu III: seven setae, 1 2/1, 2/ 0 1.

Chelicera (Fig. 8). Fixed digit 22 long with three teeth and movable digit 25 long with one tooth.

Spermatheca (Fig. 9). U-shaped and saccular (Denmark et al., 1999), cervix 18 (17–19) long and 10 (9–10) wide, atrium well-differentiated.

Redescription of the adult male (n=2) (Figs 10–11)

The male was described by Dosse (1961) but very briefly, so we here present a redescription.

Dorsum. Dorsal shield 250, 255 long and 193, 198 wide, with five solenostomes (gd2, gd6, gd4, gd8 and gd9). On females, only four solenostomes have been observed (gd4 absent). This shows intraspecific variation of presence/absence of this solenostome suggesting low reliability of this character for diagnosis. This could be linked to results of Tixier et al. (2011) on the reliability of the solenostome gd2 for the identification of two Neoseiulus species. The dorsal shield bears 17 pairs of dorsal setae and two pairs of sub-lateral setae: j1 10,17; j 3 23, 25; j 4 10, 15; j 5 13, 15; j 6 15, 18; J 2 18, 20; J5 5; z2 15; z 3 20, 23; z 4 20, 21; z 5 15, 18; Z4 40; Z5 58, 60; s 4 23, 25; s6 28; S 2 28, 30; S 4 25, 28; r 3 20, 23; R1 15. All setae smooth. Peritreme short, extending between z2 and z3.

Venter (Fig. 10). Distances between ST1 – ST3 63; ST2 – ST2 50, 53; ST5–ST5 40, 43. Ventri-anal shield with five pairs of pre-anal setae, JV1, JV2, JV4, ZV1 and ZV2, and no pre-anal pores. Membrane surrounding ventri-anal shield with a pair of setae JV5; ventri-anal shield 90, 93 long, 143, 148 wide at anterior corners, and 100 wide at level of anus. JV5 48, 60 long.

Legs. Legs IV with three macrosetae on genu, Ge IV 20, tibia, STi IV 15 and basitarsus ST IV 45, 48. Chaetotactic formula of Genu II and III similar to females.

Chelicera (Fig. 11). Fixed digit 19 long with three teeth and movable digit 16 long with one tooth. Spermatodactyl lance-shaped.

Remarks. Typhlodromus (T.) setubali and T. (T.) moroccoensis Denmark (reported once from Morocco on Prunus sp.) (Denmark, 1992) are the only two species within the sub-genus Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) bearing six setae on genu II. Table 2 provides the measurements and their range calculated using the intraspecific variations around the means proposed by Tixier (2012). The presently observed specimens are similar to the original measurements of T. (T.) setubali . It is interesting to note that T. (T.) setubali and T. (T.) moroccoensis are morphologically very close. Only differences in peritreme length and in the spermatheca shape (on the drawings of the original description) exist. Further analyses would be required to determine if these two species are valid or synonyms.