Typhlodromalus spinosus

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 165-167

Typhlodromalus spinosus (Meyer & Rodrigues)

Amblyseius spinosus Meyer & Rodrigues 1966: 30 .

Kampimodromus spinosus, Quilici et al. 2000: 100 .

Typhlodromalus spinosus, Moraes et al. 186: 2004a: 204.

Typhlodromalus spinosus, Chant & McMurtry 2005a: 199 ; 2007: 111.

Typhlodromalus spinosus belongs to the athiasae species group as setae J1 and S5 are absent. This species group contains six species ( Chant and McMurtry 2005b, Moraes et al. 2006).

Typhlodromalus spinosus was collected in eastern, western but mainly southern Africa and in La Réunion ( Demite et al. 2019). The rapid multiplication of this species on the western flower thrips (WFT), F. occidentalis , was confirmed and clear evidence that T. spinosus predates on WFT under laboratory and field conditions but not on T. urticae was established ( Mwangi et al. 2015). This species seems abundant in low vegetation as it was found in high populations in a study of companion plants in citrus orchard (Le Bellec et al. unpub. data). This species have never been record in Guadeloupe or Martinique in similar studies but it is interesting to notice that in those islands, another Typhlodromalus was collected, T. peregrinus (Muma) ( Mailloux et al. 2010; Kreiter et al. 2013, 2018c). T. spinosus was already recorded by Quilici et al. (2000) and all details of collections were provided but measurements of specimens collected and identified were not published. Measurements of specimens collected during this study are provided in table 25.

Specimens examined: 113 ♀♀ + 18 ♂♂ + 10 im. in total, 13 ♀♀ + 4 ♂♂ measured. Petite Île – Piton Bloc, Yébo Luguy farm (aasl 973 m, Long 55°34’64” E, Lat 21°18’64” S), 1 ♀ on B. catharticus , 18/10/2016; 1 ♀ on P. lanceolata , 9/12/2015; 1 ♀ on A. conyzoides , 4 ♀♀ on R. raphanistrum , 1♀ on I. indica , 28/4/2016; 4 ♀♀ on R. raphanistrum , 1 ♀ on B. pilosa , 2 ♀♀ on C. limon , 24/5/2016; Le Tampon – Grand Tampon, Janick Bénard farm (aasl 1100 m, Long 55°34’12” E, Lat 21°16’48” S), 2 ♀♀ on P. americana , 1 ♂ on R. alceifolius , 7/1/2016; 3 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ on R. raphanistrum , 11 ♀♀ + 3 ♂♂ on B. pilosa , 12 ♀♀ on A. conyzoides , 24/5/2016; 6 ♀♀ on B. pilosa 16/9/2016; 41 ♀♀ + 8 ♂♂ + 6 im. on B. pilosa , 5 ♀♀ + 3 ♂♂ on P. lanceolata , 14 ♀♀ + 3 im. on R. raphanistrum , 2 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ on Trifolium repens L., 1 ♀ on Sonchus asper All. , 1 ♂♂ + 1 im. on B. catharticus , 20/9/2016; Le Tampon – Bras de Pontho , Aldo Grace farm (aasl 661 m, Long 55°29’48” E, Lat 21°14’33” S), 1 ♀ on A. viridis , 21/2/2017 .

Remarks: measurements of female and male specimens of La Réunion ( Table 25 ) fit well those obtained for populations of various countries. Measurements are in general for all characters longer compared to those obtained on specimens of other countries in general.