Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) transvaalensis (Nesbitt)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Anjouan Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 62-83 : 78

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) transvaalensis (Nesbitt)

Kampimodromus transvaalensis Nesbitt 1951: 55 .

Neoseiulus transvaalensis, Muma 1961: 295 .

Clavidromus transvaalensis, Muma & Denmark 1968: 238, 1970: 128 ; Moraes et al. 1986:

182.

Typhlodromus transvaalensis, Chant & Baker 1965: 5 ; Schicha 1981a: 36 ; Moraes et al. 2004b: 355 ; Chant & McMurtry 1994: 252, 2007: 157.

Typhlodromus jackmickleyi, De Leon 1958: 75 ; van Der Merwe 1968: 23 (synonymy according to Muma & Denmark 1968).

Typhlodromus pectinatus, Athias­Henriot 1958: 179 (synonymy according to Muma & Denmark 1968).

This species has elongate serrated dorsal setae, setae Z1 and JV3 absent, an elongate calyx of the spermatheca, leg IV with 3 macrosetae and few teeth on chelicerae. It belongs to the transvaalensis species group of the subgenus Anthoseius of the genus Typhlodromus ( Chant and McMurtry 1994) .

According to McMurtry et al. (2013), T. (A.) transvaalensis is a type III phytoseiid and a generalist predator that feeds on mites, insects and pollen. It completed its life cycle when fed on the eriophyid mites Eriophyes dioscoridis Soliman and Abou­Awad and Eriophyes olive Zaher and Abou­Awad , eggs of the scale insect Parlatoria zizyphus (Lucas) and pollen of Ricinus communis L. in experimental conditions. The percentage of individuals attaining maturity was less than 20% when nymphs of the tetranychid mite, T. urticae Koch , were provided.

The development was faster and reproduction was higher when T. (A.) transvaalensis fed on eriophyid mites. T. urticae was an unsuitable feeding for reproduction of the phytoseiid. The daily reproduction was as low as 0.4 and 0.8 egg/ female/ day when females were maintained on pollen grains of R. communis and eggs of P. zizyphus . The adult female daily consumed 126,

97 and 6 individuals of E. olivi , E. dioscoridis and T. urticae , respectively ( Momen and Hussein 1999). Adult female T. (A.) transvaalensis were more efficient at predating all stages of P. latus (Banks) than Tetranychus bastosi Tuttle, Baker and Sales. The T. (A.) transvaalensis life cycle was shorter with diets including R. communis pollen, but Zea mays L. pollen was also suitable for reproduction. The results indicate that T. (A.) transvaalensis is a generalist predator with high potential for controlling P. latus in Jatropha curcas L. plantations and that the presence of R. communis and Z. mays crops boosts its development and reproduction ( Cañarte et al. 2017). This species is widely distributed all over the world ( Demite et al. 2020). It was recorded from

La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean ( Quilici et al. 2000, Kreiter et al. 2020d).

Specimens examined: 25 specimens (13 ♀♀, 9 ♂♂ and 3 imm.) collected during this study. Chandra, inside the village (448 m aasl, 12°11 ′ 56 ″ S, 44°27 ′ 52 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Vitis vinifera

L. ( Vitaceae ), 29/XI/2018 ; Pomoni, exit of the village (34 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 01 ″ S, 44°24 ′ 52 ″

E), 11 ♀, 9 ♂♂ and 1 imm. on Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae ), 2 imm. on Sygygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill and Perry ( Myrtaceae ) and 1 ♀ on Hibiscus tiliaceus L. ( Malvaceae ), 30/XI/2018.