Amblyseius azaliae, Kar & Karmakar, 2021

Kar, Anamika & Karmakar, Krishna, 2021, Description of eleven new species of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Meghalaya state, north eastern India, Zootaxa 5068 (3), pp. 301-354 : 306-309

Amblyseius azaliae sp. nov.

( Figs 1–5 ; 58–62 )

Following the classification of Chant & McMurtry (2004), the new species Amblyseius azaliae sp. nov. belongs to the obtusus species group with the ventrianal shield pentagonal, seta z4 short and J2 present; and sub-group pamperisi having spermatheca with calyx swollen basally, then narrowing and finally flaring distally.

Female (n = 3) Diagnosis. The species is distinguished by dorsal shield smooth with seven pairs of pores, female idiosomal setal pattern: 10A: 9B/JV–3: ZV, peritreme extends beyond seta j1, sternal shield with three pairs of setae, posterior margin of sternal shield concave, fixed digit of chelicera with 11 teeth and movable digit with three, spermatheca tubular with constriction at the distal part of calyx and then flared, all macrosetae on leg IV are pointed with longest one on genu of leg IV.

Dorsum ( Fig. 1 ). Dorsal shield 400 (396–401) long and 275 (273–276) wide, smooth, with sigillum mostly on prodorsal area, dorsum with seven pairs of pores (gd1, gd2, gd4, gd5, gd6, gd8 and gd9); 17 pairs of setae on dorsal shield and two pairs of setae on unsclerotised cuticle: j1 38 (36–39), j3 52 (51–53), j4 7 (6–8), j5 5 (4–6), j6 6 (6–8), J2 5 (5–6), J5 5 (5–6), z2 8 (8–10), z4 8 (7–9), z5 5 (4–6), Z1 8 (8–9), Z4 113 (111–113), Z5 238 (237–239), s4 75 (74–76), S2 11 (10–12), S4 10 (9–11), S5 10 (9–11), r3 13 (12–14), R1 14 (13–15). All setae smooth, setae j1, j3, s4, and Z4 long, seta Z5 longest, all other setae medium to minute.

Peritreme ( Fig. 1 ). Extending beyond the bases of j1.

Venter ( Figs 2 ; 59 ). Sternal shield square shaped, posterior margin of sternal shield concave. Sternal shield 73 (72–74) long and 86 (84–87) wide at level of setae st1-st3 and st3-st3 respectively, with three pairs of setae and two pairs of poroids; one pair of setae (st4) on distinct metasternal plate 27 (26–28) long with conspicuous poroids. Distances between st2-st2 83 (82–85), st5-st5 72 (71–74). Genital shield smooth, broad at the base and narrower at genital opening with anterior irregular circular flap. Ventrianal shield smooth, pentagonal 123 (122–125) long, 83 (82–84) wide at level of ZV2 and 64 (62–65) wide at anus level with three pairs of pre-anal setae, JV1 15 (14–16), JV2 18 (17–19), ZV2 16 (15–18) and one pair of crescentic pores gv3 17 (16–19) apart at the level JV2. Membrane surrounding ventrianal shield with four pairs of setae ZV1 15 (14–16), ZV3 14 (12–15), JV4 12 (11–15) and JV5 88 (86–89) and smooth. Two pairs of metapodal shields present. Primary inguinal sigilla 26 (25–27) long and 6 (5–7) wide, secondary ones 12 (10–12) long.

Chelicera ( Figs 3 ; 58 ). Fixed digit 36 (35–38) long with 11 teeth and a distinct pillus dentilis; movable digit 40 (39–41) long with three teeth.

Spermatheca ( Figs 4 ; 61–62 ). Calyx tubular 19 (18–20) long, arms of the calyx flared distally at vesicle, with narrow constriction. Atrium covers almost width of calyx or incorporated into the basis of calyx; major duct clearly visible, minor duct indistinct.

Legs ( Figs 5 ; 60 ). The genu, tibia and tarsus of leg IV with pointed macrosetae of following lengths: genu 111 (109–114), tibia 75 (74–76) and tarsus 70 (69–71). Genu and tibia of leg I, II and III with macrosetae of the following length respectively, SgeI 40, StiI 30, SgeII 30, StiII 25, SgeIII 50, StiIII 30. Chaetotactic formula of genu II 1 2/1, 1/1 1 and genu III 1 1/1, 2/1 1. Length of leg I 375 (373–376), leg II 255 (253–256), leg III 278 (276–280) and leg IV 354 (351–355).

Type specimens. Holotype: female (Acarol.lab/ BCKV/8371 /2019) collected from Azalea, ( Rhododendron sp. ), at Upper Shillong : 25°32'09"N, 91°49'29"E, 1589 m AMSL, Ri-Bhoi , Meghalaya on 2 nd May , 2019; deposited in the NZC, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. Two paratype females (Acarol.lab/ BCKV/8372–8373 /2019) with same collection data as holotype deposited in the Acarological laboratory, Department of Entomology , BCKV, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India.

Etymology. The specific name azaliae refers to the host plant azalea ( Rhododendron sp. ) of the new species.

Remarks. Amblyseius azaliae is different from all species under pamperisi sub-group by having its unique type of spermatheca, distal part of of calyx is constricted followed by flared arms. However, this new species is very close to A. orientalis Ehara, 1959 ; A. kulini Gupta, 1978c ; A. raoiellus Denmark & Muma, 1989; A. pamperisi Papadopoulis, 1997 ; and A. euterpes Gondim Jr. & Moraes, 2001 ; by having similar type of spermatheca, leg IV with three setaceous macrosetae. However, the new species differs from these close species by the length of dorsal setae, number of teeth in fixed and movable digit of chelicera, length of leg macrosetae and shape of spermatheca. All of them have tubular spermathecae, but spermateca of the new species is very specific with a constriction in calyx and this combination of all characters makes it unique from all the other species of this group. All the differences between the new species and its close species are presented in Table 2 .

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Amblyseius azaliae (female). 1. Dorsal view of idiosoma; 2. Ventral view of idiosoma; 3. Chelicera; 4. Spermatheca; 5. Genu, tibia and basitarsus of leg IV.

FIGURES 58–62. Amblyseius azaliae (female). 58. Chelicera; 59. Sternal shield; 60. Genu, tibia and basitarsus of leg IV; 61. & 62. Spermatheca; 63–65. Amblyseius meghalayensis (female). 63. Sternal shield; 64. Ventrianal shield; 65. Spermatheca.