Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot

Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A. & De, Gilberto J., 2014, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Egypt, with new records, descriptions of new species, and a key to species, Zootaxa 3865 (1), pp. 1-71 : 7-9

Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot

( Figs 1–7 )

Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot, 1962: 5 ; Porath & Swirski, 1965: 95; Athias-Henriot, 1966: 195; Swirski et al., 1973: 80; Nasr & Abou-Awad, 1985: 246; Kandeel & Nassar, 1986: 174; Zaher, 1986: 105; Swirski et al., 1998: 103; Chant & McMurtry, 2004: 199; 2007: 81; Ramadan et al., 2004: 191; Zannou et al., 2007: 27; Ramadan et al., 2009: 117; Ferragut et al., 2010: 124.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) rykei Pritchard & Baker, 1962: 249 . (synonymy by Zannou et al., 2007: 27; Zannou & Hanna, 2011: 339).

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) swirskii . — Ehara, 1966: 23.

Amblyseius enab El-Badry, 1967a: 178 ; 1970: 504; Nasr & Abou-Awad, 1985: 246; Zaher, 1986: 104; Chant & McMurtry, 2004: 199; 2007: 78. (synonymy by Ramadan et al., 2009: 117).

Typhlodromips enab .— Moraes et al., 1986: 140; 2004: 212.

Typhlodromips swirskii . — Moraes et al., 1986: 149; 2004: 227.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) enab .— Ueckermann & Loots, 1988: 73.

Typhlodromips capsicum Basha, Yousef, Ibrahim & Mostafa , in Basha et al., 2001: 372 (new synonymy).

Female (holotype of A. enab and seven additional females).

Dorsal shield ( Fig. 1 ) mostly smooth, with lateral reticulation anteriorly to S2; 375 (358-397) [400] long and 214 (195–224) [231] wide, with 17 pairs of setae, six pairs of pores (gd1, gd4-gd6, gd8, gd9) and twelve pairs of lyrifissures (id1, id2, id4, id7, id x, idm1-idm4, idm6, idl1, idl3). Setae j1 30 (25–32) [34], j3 55 (52–57) [62], j4 10 (9–15) [10], j5 9 (8–10) [10], j6 10 (9–11) [10], J2 9 (8–10) [10], J5 10 (8–10) [10], z2 14 (11–16) [18], z4 15 (12–18) [16], z5 8 (7–10) [8], Z1 11 (10–12) [10], Z4 73 (70–76) [86], Z5 109 (105–112) [119], s4 78 (72–81) [86], S2 19 (18–21) [23], S4 11 (8–13) [13], S5 11 (9–12) [10], r3 25 (23–27) [26], R1 15 (12–17) [10]. All setae smooth, except Z4 and Z5, faintly serrate. Peritreme extending forward to level of j1.

Venter ( Fig. 2 ). Sternal shield smooth, with three pairs of setae and two pairs of lyrifissures; region anterior to st1 lightly striate. Distances between st1-st1 63 (55–68) [65], st2-st2 77 (71–87) [78], st3-st3 87 (79–91) [78], st4- st4 91 (82–101) [94]. Genital shield smooth; distance between st5-st5 76 (70–81) [83]. Ventrianal shield vaseshaped, smooth; 132 (126–135) [140] long, 83 (71–89) [94] wide at ZV2 level and 86 (76–89) [88] wide at level of anus; with three pairs of pre-anal setae and a pair of pre-anal pores. Seta JV5 72 (65–79) [72]. Ventral setae smooth. Two pairs of metapodal plates.

Spermatheca ( Fig. 4 ). Calyx of spermatheca pocular 9 (7–10) 11 long; atrium distinct.

Gnathosoma. Corniculi distally convergent; basal width of corniculus 7, distance between bases of corniculi 9. Movable cheliceral digit 33 (32–34) [32] long, with three teeth ( Fig. 3 ); fixed digit 33 (31–34) [34] long, with 9–10 teeth; dorsal and lateral lyrifissures distinct.

Legs. Macrosetae sharp-tipped: Sge I 29 (27–30) [34], Sge II 33 (32–35) [36], Sge III 36 (35–37) [39], Sti III 27 (26–28) [31], Sge IV 63 (60–65) [68], Sti IV 47 (44–50) [52], St IV 66 (60–68) [73] ( Fig. 5 ); chaetotaxy of genu II 2, 2/0, 2/0, 1; genu III 1, 2/1, 2/0, 1.

Male (five specimens).

Dorsal shield pattern as in female; 275 (254–292) long and 179 (145–203) wide. Setae j1 22 (20–24), j3 44 (41–47), j4 8 (7–11), j5 8 (7–8), j6 8 (7–9), J2 8 (7–9), J5 8 (7–8), z2 14 (12–16), z4 13 (10–15), z5 7 (7–8), Z1 11 (10–13), Z4 52 (49–53), Z5 74 (70–78), s4 61 (57–64), S2 15 (13–18), S4 9 (7–13), S5 9 (8–10), r3 21 (19–23), R1 14 (13–14). All setae smooth, except Z4 and Z5, faintly serrate. Peritreme extending to region between j1 and j3.

Venter. Distances between st1-st1 55 (52–60), st2-st2 59 (56–63), st3-st3 61 (56–66), st4-st4 47 (43–51), st5- st5 39 (35–43). Ventrianal shield subtriangular, with transverse striae ( Fig. 7 ); 121 (109–128) long and 151 (123–164) wide at anterior corners; with three pairs of pre-anal setae and a pair of pre-anal pores. Seta JV5 36 (33–39).

Gnathosoma. Movable cheliceral digit 25 (23–27) long, with one tooth; fixed digit 26 (25–27) long, with six teeth; lateral lyrifissures distinct. Shaft of spermatodactyl 20 (19–21) long ( Fig. 6 ).

Legs. Macrosetae sharp-tipped: Sge I 24 (21–25), Sge II 26 (23–28), Sge III 26 (23–28), Sti III 21 (18–23), Sge IV 45 (40–47), Sti IV 36 (32–38), St IV 54 (48–58); chaetotaxy of genua II and III as in female.

Specimens examined. Holotype female of A. enab from mango leaves, at Qanatir el-Qahiriya, Qualyubia governorate, 1967 (coll. E.A. El-Badry); one male from guava leaves, at Beheira governorate, March 2001 (coll. A.H.M. Romeih); one female from mango leaves, at Gharbia governorate, May 1978 (coll. M.A. Zaher); one female from citrus leaves, at Monufia governorate, October 1978 (coll. M.A. Zaher); three females from soil under date palm, at Monufia governorate, July 2012 (coll. M.M. Ghallab); two females and one male from soil under A. donax , at Qualyubia governorate, July 2004 (coll. A.K. Nasr); two females and one male from cucumber leaves, at same locality, June 2005 and May 2006 (coll. A.K. Nasr); two females and two males from eggplant leaves, at same locality, August 2006 (coll. A.K. Nasr); two females from okra leaves, at same locality, August–October 2006 (coll. M.A. El-Borolossy).

Previous records from Egypt. As A. enab –Alexandria, Beheira, Gharbia and Monufia governorates ( Zaher, 1986); Fayoum and Giza governorates ( El-Badry, 1967a; Romeih et al., 2010b); Ismailia, Kafr el-Sheikh, Luxor governorates ( El-Badry, 1967a); Qualyubia governorate ( El-Badry, 1967a; Zaher, 1986); unspecified governorate ( El-Badry, 1970; Nasr & Abou-Awad, 1985); as A. swirskii— Alexandria and Beheira governorates (Zaher et al., 1971); Asyut, Beni Suef, Damietta, Monufia and Qualyubia governorates ( Nasr et al., 2011); Dakahlia and Ismailia governorates ( Zaher, 1986); Fayoum governorate ( Romeih et al., 2010b); Giza governorate ( Zaher et al.,1973; Hoda et al., 1986; Romeih et al., 2010b); Lower Egypt region (Rasmy & Abou-Awad, 1972; Rasmy et al., 1972); unspecified governorate ( Yousef et al., 1976; Kandeel & Nassar, 1986); as T. capsicum –Ismailia governorate ( Basha et al., 2001).

Remarks. Amblyseius swirskii was originally described from the holotype female and four paratype females collected in Israel. The original description was reasonably detailed, with illustrations and setal measurements; complementary descriptions were listed by Demite et al. (2014). Amblyseius enab was originally described from the holotype, two paratype females and three paratype males collected in Qanatir el-Qahiriya, Qualyubia governorate, Egypt. The original description included illustrations, but provided only measurements of the idiosoma. Typhlodromips capsicum was originally described from the holotype female, three paratype females and five paratype males collected in Kassasin, Ismailia governorate, Egypt. The original description was rather detailed, with illustrations and setal measurements.

Measurements of the females examined are close to those reported by Zaher (1986) for a single female (except s4, 58 according to that author), and to those reported by different authors ( Swirski et al., 1998; Zannou et al., 2007; Ferragut et al., 2010). Differently from what was reported by Zaher (1986) but similarly to what was reported by Zannou et al. (2007), the specimens examined in this study have macrosetae on genu I and tibia III.

An examination of the holotype of A. enab confirmed its synonymy with A. swirswkii as first concluded by Ramadan et al. (2009). An examaination of the original description of T. capsicum also indicated its synonymy with A. swirskii ; the small differences observed in relation to setal lengths of T. capsicum are considered to be related to the smaller size of the type of this species (according to the original description, dorsal shield 331 long and 208 wide). Measurements of the males examined in this study are close to those provided by Porath & Swirski (1965) and Zannou et al. (2007).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Amblyseius swirskii: 1. Female dorsal shield; 2. Female ventral shields; 3. Female chelicera; 4. Spermatheca; 5. Genu, tibia and basitarsus of female leg IV; 6. Spermatodactyl; 7. Male ventrianal shield.