Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor)

Kade, N., Gueye-Ndiaye, A., Duverney, C. & de Moraes, G. J., 2011, PHYTOSEIID MITES (ACARI: PHYTOSEIIDAE) FROM SENEGAL Niokhor K, Absa G - N, Claude D and Gilberto J. de M, Acarologia 51 (1), pp. 133-138 : 135-136

Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor)

Typhlodromus californicus McGregor, 1954: 89 Amblyseius californicus, Schuster & Pritchard, 1963: 271

Neoseiulus californicus, Moraes et al., 2004: 109 ; Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 25; Guanilo et al., 2008: 27

Measurements of 5 adult females collected are: dorsal shield 359 (340 – 375) long and 174 (168 – 187) wide; j1 22 (20 – 23), j3 30 (25 – 33), j4 25 (23 – 28), j5 24 (20 – 27), j6 28 (25 – 33), J2 31 (28 – 33), J5 13 (13 – 15), z2 25 (23 – 28), z4 28 (25 – 33), z5 24 (23 – 28), Z1 36 (33 – 40), Z4 50 (48 – 53), Z5 65 (55 – 73), s4 32 (30 – 38), S2 40 (38 – 45), S4 37 (35 – 38), S5 31 (30 – 33), r3 25 (24 – 25), R1 23 (22 – 23); distances between st1 – st3 63 (53 – 68), st2 – st2 63 (53 – 68) and st5 – st5 67 (63 – 73); ventrianal shield 119 (113 – 127) long, 86 (95 – 105) wide at level of ZV2; calyx of spermatheca 10 (9 – 10) long; St IV 52 (48 – 60). Fixed and movable cheliceral digits with 3 and 2 teeth, respectively.

Chaetotaxy — genu II 2, 2/0-2/0, 1; genu III 1, 2/1-2/0, 1.

Remarks — Measurements of the specimens collected are similar to what was reported in redescriptions of the species based on specimens from California ( Schuster & Pritchard, 1963) and Peru ( Guanilo et al., 2008), except for the anterolateral dorsal shield setae and Z5, about 10 % shorter in the specimens collected.

Specimens collected — More than 50 specimens on Solanum aethiopicum L. and S. melongena L., infested by T. evansi and T. urticae , at Malika, between March and July 2010.

World distribution — This species has been reported from subtropical to temperate areas in the Americas, Europe, Asia and northern Africa. A few years ago ( Pringle & Heunis, 2006) it was introduced to South Africa for the control of mite pests in apple orchards; thus, our finding is the second record of this species in sub-Saharan Africa ( Zannou et al., 2006).