Paraphytoseius horrifer (Pritchard & Baker)

Kreiter, Serge & Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A., 2020, New records of phytoseiid mites from Mauritius Island (Acari: Mesostigmata, Acarologia 60 (3), pp. 520-545 : 523

Paraphytoseius horrifer (Pritchard & Baker)

Amblyseius (Ptenoseius) horrifer Pritchard & Baker 1962: 295 .

Amblyseius horrifer, Meyer & Rodrigues 1966: 30 .

Amblyseius (Paraphytoseius)* horrifer, van der Merwe 1968: 169 .

Proprioseius (Paraphytoseius) horrifer, Karg 1983: 302 .

Paraphytoseius horrifer, Moraes et al. 1986: 105, 2004: 152 ; Beard 2001: 84; Chant & McMurtry 2003a: 37, 2007: 53.

In our specimens of this genus, setae S5 are absent. So accordingly, with Chant and McMurtry (2003b) all specimens belong to the orientalis species group. Accordingly, with these previous authors, and with Moraes et al. (2007), we consider that P. horrifer and P. orientalis are different valid species. Our specimens with longer setae s4, Z4, Z5, and lacking a distinctly short, thick, spatulate macroseta on genu I belongs to the former species. Paraphytoseius horrifer is widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Its biology remains totally unknown and it is the first record from Mauritius.

World distribution: Benin, DR Congo, Ghana, India, Kenya, La Réunion Island, Madagascar Island, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda.

Specimens examined: 10 ♀♀ in total. Curepipe, Anderson street (aasl 540 m, lat. 20°19 ′ 11 ″ S, long. 57°31 ′ 52 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Litsea monopetala (Roxburgh) Person and 1 ♀ on Litsea glutinosa (Loureiro) C.B. Robinson (Lauraceae) , 27/X/2018; Côte d’Or, Bridge (aasl 443 m, lat. 20°15 ′ 26 ″ S, long. 57°32 ′ 21 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Tristemma mauritianum J.F. Gmelin (Melastomataceae) , 28/X/2018; Curepipe, Botanical Garden (aasl 540 m, lat. 20°19 ′ 28 ″ S, long. 57°30 ′ 50 ″ E), 6 ♀♀ on Rubus alceifolius Poiret (Rosaceae) and 1 ♀ on Clidemia hirta (L.) D. Don ( Melastomataceae ), 29/X/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements fit well measurements in Kreiter et al. (2020b, c). This species was described from Africa ( Pritchard and Baker 1962), but recorded also in Vietnam ( Kreiter et al. 2020b) and was first mentioned in the Indian Ocean from La Réunion Island by Kreiter et al. (2020c), an Island distant of only 225 km from Mauritius with several species shared by the two Islands (this study and Kreiter et al. 2020c).