Eriophyidae

Navia, Denise, Duarte, Mercia Elias & Flechtmann, Carlos H. W., 2021, Eriophyoid mites (Acari: Prostigmata) from Brazil: an annotated checklist, Zootaxa 4997 (1), pp. 1-152 : 81

Eriophyidae , Phyllocoptinae , Anthocoptini

234 * Vittacus bougainvilleae Keifer (1959 b) : 9. ( Elhalawany 2018: 7).

Previous assignment.

Phyllocoptes bougainvillea Keifer, 1959b

Synonymy. ( Elhalawany 2018: 7)

Vittacus bougainvilleae Abou-Awad & El-banhawy, 1991

Type host. Bouganvillea spectabilis Willd. (Nyctaginaceae) , probably a misspelling referring to Bougainvillea spectabilis (Nyctaginaceae) ( Flora do Brasil 2020; Tropicos 2020).

Type locality. Campinas , São Paulo, Brazil .

Additional reports in Brazil. Throughout state of São Paulo ( Costa & Carvalho 1960b) ; Botucatu ( Flechtmann & Berti-Filho 1994); Piracicaba (in this paper, specimens deposited at mite collection at ESALQ, USP), São Paulo .

Relationship to host plant. Extensive leaf edge-rolling from the underside ( Keifer 1959b; Flechtmann & Berti-Filho 1994). Serious damage can be observed in some seasons ( Costa & Carvalho 1960b). In severe infestations, curling of the entire leaf, especially of the terminal shoots, is accompanied by the presence of leaf growths in the place where the leaf is curled, giving a spongy aspect to the affected area ( Moraes & Flechtmann 2008).

Remarks. Vittacus bougainvilleae Abou-Awad & El-Banhawy, 1991 , was made a junior synonym of Phyllocoptes bougainvillea Keifer, 1959b by Ochoa & Amrine (1998); when slide-mounted, overheating the mites causes deformation of the opisthosoma and the development of the Vittacus -like characters; slides from Egypt were compared to paratypes of Keifer’s material, prepared several different ways. Re-evaluation of characters of the mite , P. bougainvilleae , showed that characters do not fit typical Phyllocoptes , but better fit the genus Vittacus , especially regarding the posterior half of the opisthosoma. Vittacus bougainvilleae Abou-Awad & & El-Banhawy, 1991, described from Bougainvillea from Egypt becomes a junior homonym and was redescribed as Vittacus bougainvilleae ( Keifer, 1959b) by Elhalawany (2018).

Type host plant status. Native tree, shrub or liana/scandent/vine, not endemic, occurring naturally in Amazônia, Caatinga, Cerrado, Mata Atlântica and Pampa biomes ( Flora do Brasil 2020). Widely cultivated as an ornamental ( Lorenzi & Souza 2001).