Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers, 1974

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 160-161

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers 1974: 144 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 31; Denmark & Muma 1989: 13; Chant & McMurtry 2004a: 203; Ehara & Amano 2004: 17; Moraes et al. 2004a: 52; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 81.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) tamatavensis, Ehara 2002: 33 ; Ehara & Amano 2002: 322.

Amblyseius aegyptiacus , Denmark & Matthysse in Matthysse & Denmark 1981: 343 (synonymy according to Denmark & Muma 1989)

Amblyseius maai Tseng 1976: 123 (synonymy according to Denmark & Muma 1989).

Amblyseius tamatavensis belongs to the obtusus species group as setae J2 and Z1 are present, setae z4 are minute and the female ventrianal shield is not vase-shaped or divided. It belongs to the aerialis species subgroup (46 species) as the calyx of the spermatheca is tubular (Chant and McMurtry 2004a).

It seems to fit the functional type III-b (generalist predators living on glabrous leaves) group defined by McMurtry et al. (2013). Cavalcante et al. (2017) reported this species as a promising natural enemy of B. tabaci . Experimental releases of this predator on caged plants in a screenhouse caused the reduction of the density of B. tabaci on pepper plants by up to 60-80 % ( Massaro and Moraes 2019). It can be easily produced in large numbers ( Massaro et al. 2018) when fed with astigmatine mites, which could allow the mass production for augmentative biological control. This species is reported in tropical areas from over 20 countries around the world (Africa, Asia, America and Oceania). It was already well known from La Réunion since previous studies ( Quilici et al. 2000). All details of collections were provided in this paper but without any measurements of specimens collected given. Measurements of specimens collected during this study are provided in table 22.

Specimens examined: 212 ♀♀ + 44 ♂♂ + 30 im. in total, 11 ♀♀ + 5 ♂♂ measured. Petite Île – Les bas, Doris Morel farm (aasl 230 m, Long 55°34’1” E, Lat 21°21’22” S), 1 ♀ on A. viridis , 3 ♀♀ on M. coromandelianum , 5 ♀♀ on A. conyzoides , and 1 ♀ on Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn., 10/12/2015; 8 ♀♀ on L. camara , 2 ♀♀ on Solanum nigrum L., 3 ♀♀ on P. americana , 5 ♀♀ on Convolvulus farinosus L., 4 ♀♀ + 1 im. on P. lanceolata , 12/12/2015; 3 ♀♀ + 2 ♂♂ + 1 im. on P. lanceolata , 3 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ S. nodiflora , 31/05/2016; 1 ♀ + 1 ♂ + 1 im. on Oxalis corniculata L., 7 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ on D. incanum , 1 ♀ + 1 im. on S. nodiflora , 1 ♀ on B. pilosa , 1 ♂ on P. lanceolata , 6 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ + 1 im. on Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck, 1/12/2016; Le Tampon – Grand Tampon, Janick Bénard farm (aasl 861 m, Long 55°32’90” E, Lat 21°12’80” S), 3 ♀♀ + 1 im. on B. pilosa , and 1 ♀ on P. lanceolata , 20/9/2016; Saint-Pierre – Bassin-Plat CIRAD Research Station (aasl 153 m, Long 55°29’18” E, Lat 21°19’25” S), 2 ♀♀ on E. hypericifolia , 1/11/2015; 56 ♀♀ + 10 ♂♂ + 10 im. in plot H; 6 ♀♀ + 10 ♂♂ in plot HM, 23 and 25/8/2016 ; 88 ♀♀ + + 17 ♂♂ + 14 im. in plot M; 2 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ in plot CC, 15/12/2016 .

Remarks: measurements values ( Table 22 ) are very close from that of the literature, especially from those concerning specimens from South-East Asia.