Neoseiulus tunus

Kreiter, Serge, Zriki, Ghais, Ryckewaert, Philippe, Pancarte, Clovel, Douin, Martial & Tixier, Marie-Stéphane, 2018, Phytoseiid mites of Martinique, with redescription of four species and new records (Acari: Mesostigmata), Acarologia 58 (2), pp. 366-407 : 396-399

Neoseiulus tunus (De Leon)

Typhlodromips tunus De Leon, 1967: 29 ; Denmark & Muma, 1973: 253;

Amblyseius tunus, Feres & Moraes, 1998: 126 .

Neoseiulus tunus, Moraes et al., 2004b: 148 ; Chant & McMurtry, 2003: 21; Chant & Mc- Murtry, 2007: 31.

Neoseiulus tunus is one of the most frequently reported species in the Neotropical Region.

This species was described briefly only from the holotype collected In Trinidad by De Leon in 1967. Soon after, another species, N. neotunus Denmark and Muma, was described on the basis of a single female and a male by Denmark and Muma in 1973 from Piracicaba, São Paulo

State, Brazil. Neoseiulus tunus was then reported from other Caribbean islands and South

America ( Cavalcante et al. 2017). Measurements of the holotype of N. tunus were provided by Moraes et al. (2000) followed by complementary descriptions on specimens from French

Caribbean Islands ( Moraes et al. 2000) or from South America (for example Lofego et al.

2004; Guanilo et al. 2008a, b). The great similarity between N. tunus and N. neotunus has been outlined very early ( Moraes and Mesa 1988; Lofego 1998). Denmark and Muma (1973)

arguments for distinction between N. neotunus and N. tunus were based on setal ornamentation

(all setae barbed except j5 and not all setae of the j-J serie smooth like in N. tunus ), shape of the spermatheca (cervix fundibuliform and not cup-shaped like in N. tunus ) and of leg

IV macrosetae setiform (and not knobbed distally like in N. tunus ).Our examination of both holotypes and of the huge number of specimens collected in this study (12 measured) let us to conclude like Cavalcante et al. (2017) that the differences mentioned in the original description of N. neotunus correspond to intraspecific variations and to agree with Cavalcante et al. (2017)

that N. neotunus is a junior synonym of N. tunus . Actually, some of our specimens have all setae barbed except j5 and J5 and with knobbed macrosetae and some specimens have setae j-J

smooth with setaceous macrosetae.

As populations identified as N. tunus and as N. neotunus exist in several places and are available, and as it is possible to recover specimen for a posteriori identification after molecular extraction, the best solution in order to establish definitively this synonymy is to undertake a molecular study with several populations from South and Central America and Caribbean area.

Specimens examined — 126 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ in total (12 ♀♀ measured and 1 ♂ in very bad state not measured). Lamentin, CIRAD-CAEC station (long. 14°37′N, lat. 60°58′O, alt. 25 m), 19

♀♀ + 1 ♂ on N. wightii , 28 ♀♀ on M. atropurpureum , 76 ♀♀ on P. phaseoloides and 3 ♀♀ on P. notatum collected between 23-07-2012 and 18-09-2013.

We have also examined: one holotype ♀ (measured) of Neoseiulus tunus (De Leon) in one slide with label: Tunapuna, Trinidad, 16-10-1963, on Psidium guajava L., De Leon coll., borrowed at Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Department of Plant Industry, Gainesville, USA; one holotype and one paratype ♀ (both measured) of N. neotunus ( Denmark & Muma) in one slide with the label: Picacicaba, São Paulo, Brazil, 1-03-1967 Pothomorphe sidifolia (Link & Otto) Miq. (and not P. sidaesolia as labelled), which is a junior synonym of Piper umbellatum L. ( Piperaceae ), Flechtmann coll., for comparisons.

Previous Records — Argentina, Brazil (Bahia, Ceará, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo), Guadeloupe,

Jamaica, Marie-Galante, Martinique, Peru, Trinidad.

Remarks — The females collected agree well with all measurements provided in the literature ( Table 13) and with our measurements of holotypes of N. tunus and N. neotunus

( Table 14).