Iphiseius degenerans (Berlese, 1889)

Seius degenerans Berlese, 1889: 9 .

Iphiseius degenerans .—Berlese, 1921: 95; Chant, 1959: 110. Amblyseius (Iphiseius) degenerans .—Muma, 1961: 288.

Iphiseius (Iphiseius) degenerans .—Pritchard & Baker, 1962: 299. Iphiseius degenerans .—Moraes et al., 2004: 92; Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 123.

This species is essentially reported from Africa and South of Europe. It has been observed on a great variety of plants and is quite frequent in citrus orchards (McMurtry, 1977; Papaioannou-Souliotis et al., 1994; Swirski & Amitai, 1997b; Sahraoui et al., 2012). It is used as a biological control agent of thrips and spider mites in greenhouses (van Houten & van Stratum, 1995; Vantornhout et al., 2004). Several studies also showed its ability to feed on T. urticae and Eutetranychus orientalis Klein (Tsoukanas et al., 2006; Fantinou et al., 2012). This predator effectively develops at a broad range of temperatures. It was already reported from Morocco by McMurtry & Bounfour (1989). Only one specimen was found in the present study.

Specimens examined: 2003, Gorges of Zegzel on Nerium oleander (Apocynaceae) (1 female).

Previous records: Algeria, Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Madeira Island, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, Portugal, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda (Moraes et al. 2007), USA, Yemen, Zimbabwe.