Paraseiulus talbii (Athias-Henriot, 1960b)

Typhlodromus talbii Athias-Henriot, 1960b: 75 .

Paraseiulus subsoleiger .—Wainstein, 1962: 139.

Typhlodromus subsoleiger .—Hirshmann, 1962: 12.

Paraseiulus talbii . — Moraes et al., 2004: 301; Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 143.

This species was described from Vitis vinifera in Algeria (Athias-Henriot, 1960b). It has been reported from all over the world but most frequently in the Western Palaearctic region. Several studies reported this species mainly on cultivated plants such as apple (Daneshvar, 1987; Miedema, 1987; Duso & Sbrissa, 1990), peach (Castagnoli et al., 1984), kiwi (Coiutti, 1993), walnut (Daneshvar, 1987), olive (Swirski & Amitai, 1997b) and vineyards (Duso et al., 2005; Goven et al., 2009). Little is known of its ability to control pests. Two studies showed that it does not develop well feeding on Aculops lycopersici and eggs of two Lepidopteran species (El-Sawi & Momen 2005; Momen & Abdel-Khalek 2008). It is however known to feed on tydeiids (Duso et al., 2005; Hussein & Momen, 2010). This is the first time it has been reported from Morocco, but it was known from Algeria and Tunisia.

Specimens examined: 2002, Damon Oum Er Bia River on Convolvulus altheoides (Convolvulaceae) (3 females); 2003, Spartel Cape on Vinca major (Apocynaceae) (1 female).

Previous records: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey.