Amblyseius meridionalis Berlese, 1914

Faraji, Farid & Hoekstra, Paul H., 2021, Some new species records of the predatory mite family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from The Netherlands, Soil Organisms 93 (1), pp. 35-57 : 39-43

Amblyseius meridionalis Berlese, 1914

For other names and synonyms see Demite et al. (2021)

( Fig. 4 : A–E)

Female– Five specimens measured.

Idiosomal setal pattern: 10A:9B/JV–3:ZV.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 4A ) – Dorsal shield 378 (360– 395) long and 247 (238–255) wide at j 6 level, with 19 pairs of dorsal setae (r 3 and R 1 included); dorsal shield setae smooth, except for Z 4 and Z 5, slightly serrated; lengths: j 1 29 (27–30), j 3 52 (51–52), j 4, j 5, z 5 5–6, j 6 7 (7–8), J 2 8 (8–9), J 5 13 (13–14), z 2 9, z 4 11 (10–11), z 5 8 (7–8), Z 1 10 (9–10), Z 4 116 (111–120), Z 5 219 (208–229), s 4 77 (74–79), S 2 11, S 4 11 (10–11), S5 13 (12–13); setae r 3 15 (14–16) and R 1 10 (9–11) on lateral integument; dorsal shield with 7 pairs of solenostomes (gd 1, gd 2, gd 4, gd 5, gd 6, gd 8, gd 9) and 12 pairs of small poroids.

Peritreme – Extending well beyond setae j 1 ( Fig. 4A ).

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 4B ) – Sternal shield wider than long, posterior margin slightly concave, smooth at the central area with a few lateral striae, 59 (57–62) long, 82 (81–82) wide at level of setae ST 2, three pairs of setae and two pairs of pores (iv 1 and iv 2), ST 1 32–34, ST 2 30– 33, ST 3 28–30; distances between ST 1 –ST 3 64 (63–65), ST 1 –ST 1 55 (54–56) and ST 2 –ST 2 72 (71–73); metasternal setae ST 4 28 and a pair of pores (iv 3) on small platelets; genital shield smooth width at widest point 85 (80–88), ST 5 30 (30–31); two pairs of metapodal shields, primary 28 (27–30) long and accessory 15–17 long; ventrianal shield pentagonal ( Fig. 4B ), striated anterior to the ventrianal pores, length 121 (115–126), width at level of setae ZV 2, 100 (98–103), and width at level of paranal setae 77 (74–81); with three pairs of preanal setae (JV 1 20–21, JV 2 23–24, ZV 2 18–19); four pairs of setae surrounding ventrianal shield on integument (JV 4 10–12 JV 5 85 (80–87), ZV 1 17–19, ZV 3 9–10), five pairs of pores and one pair of small platelets surrounding ventrianal shield. Ventrianal shield with a pair of small round pores (gv 3) posteromesad to JV 2, distance between these pores 46 (40–51).

Spermatheca – Calyx bell-shaped 18 (17–19) long, 8 in diameter at the middle part of the calyx; atrium C-shaped ( Fig. 4C ).

Chelicera – Fixed digit 28–29 long with 4 teeth and a pilus dentilis, the one close to pilus dentilis slightly larger; movable digit 31–32 long and smooth ( Fig. 4D ).

Legs – Leg IV ( Fig. 4E ) with three pointed macrosetae, SgeIV 89 (87–91), StiIV 72 (70–76), StIV 65 (65–66); length of macrosetae on other legs: SgeI 31 (30–32), SgeII 38 (37–40), SgeIII 42 (40–45); length of legs from the base of coxae to the tip of claws: leg I 411 (402–420), leg II 319 (307–330), leg III 310 (305–315), leg IV 417 (415–418); chaetotactic formulae of genua and tibiae I–II–III–IV with 10 (2-2/1, 2/1-2) – 7 (2-2/0, 2/0-1) – 7 (1-2/1, 2/0-1) – 7 (1-2/0, 2/1-1) and 10 (2-2/1, 2/1-2) – 7 (1-2/1, 1/1-1) – 7 (1-1/1, 2/1-1) – 6 (1-1/0, 2/1-1) setae respectively.

Distribution – Algeria, Azerbaijan, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Morocco, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and USA.

Specimen examined – Five females, 28 June 2010, unidentified weeds from a grassland, Sinderhoeve , near Renkum, The Netherlands (51°59’52.9”N 5°45’15.9”E), collector: Frank Bakker.

Remarks – The characteristics of the specimens found in The Netherlands fits well with the re-descriptions of this species. Faraji et al. (2008, 2011) mentioned the movable digit of chelicera with one minute tooth while the Dutch specimens show it smooth.

Figures

Figure 4. Amblyseius meridionalis Berlese (Female): (A) Idiosoma, dorsal view; (B) Idiosoma, ventral view; (C) Spermatheca; (D) Chelicera; (E) Leg IV.