Proprioseiopsis penai Denmark and Evans

Proprioseiopsis penai Denmark and Evans, in Denmark et al., 1999: 17.

The biology of this species found only once in Honduras on Citrus sp. by Denmark et al. (1999) is unknown.

Previous Records — Honduras (Denmark et al., 1999; Moraes et al., 2004b).

Specimens examined — Guadeloupe, Basse- Terre, RiviŁre Corossol, Route du Col des Mamelles, 16°10’N, 61°41’W, alt. 221 m, 1 ♀ on an unknown small mauve flowering plant, Rault coll., 22 December 2008 ; Basse-Terre, Petit-Bourg, Domaine Duclos de l’INRA Antilles-Guyane, 16°12’N, 61°39’W, alt. 85 m, 2 ♀ on Centrosema pubescens, Kreiter coll., 31 December 2008 and 1 ♀ on Clidemia hirta, Kreiter coll., 3 January 2009.

Remarks — this is the first record of this species in the West Indies. The measurements of three of the four specimens collected fit very well the measurements given by Denmark et al. (1999).

The average measurements of these three adult females are as follow: dorsal shield sclerotized and reticulated, dorsal shield length 449 (439-464), width 332 (321-342), 5 solenostomes (gd 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9), j1 34 (33 – 35), j3 48 (47 – 49), j4 4, j5 6 (5 – 6), j6 8 (8 – 9), J2 5, J5 4, z2 26 (25 – 27), z4 22 (20 – 24), z5 5 (5 – 6), Z1 7 (6 – 8), Z4 93 (83 – 108), Z5 103 (102 – 105), s4 121 (121 – 122), S2 7 (5 – 8), S4 7 (6 – 7), S5 7 (7 – 8), r3 26 (19 – 33), R1 8 (7 – 9), all setae smooth, st1-st1 66, st2-st2 84 (84 – 85), st1-st3 64 (63 – 64), posterior margin of the sternal shield concave, metapodal 1 length 33 (32 – 35), width 6 (5 – 7), metapodal 2 length 16 (13 – 19), width 1, ventrianal shield 121 (120 – 123) long, 120 (119 – 120) wide at level of anterior corners and 99 (95 – 102) wide at level of anus, 5 poroids around the ventrianal shield and genital shield, JV5 68, spermatheca 20 (18 – 21) long and 11 (9 – 13) width, SgeI 32 (30 – 33), SgeII 34 (33 – 35), SgeIII 39 (38 – 40), StiIII 28, SgeIV 79 (78 – 79), StiIV 53 (50 – 58), StIV 66 (61 – 68), macrosetae whip-like, fixed digit of chelicerae 35 (33 – 37), mobile digit of chelicerae 35 (35 – 37), 13 denticles on fixed digit and 3 on mobile digit.