Tetranychus evansi Baker & Pritchard, 1960

Marić, Ivana, Marčić, Dejan, Petanović, Radmila & Auger, Philippe, 2018, Biodiversity of spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) in Serbia: a review, new records and key to all known species, Acarologia 58 (1), pp. 3-14 : 10

Tetranychus evansi Baker & Pritchard, 1960

Origin of the specimens examined — Area F: Šabac-Debrc (44°37’44”N, 19°54’11”E), on Solanum lycopersicum (Solanaceae) , 3♀ and 2♂, 22/08/2013.

Remarks — This species has been found in 42 countries from various regions on 136 host plants from 36 families, with a preference for Solanaceae (Migeon and Dorkeld, 2017) . The species is native to South America and currently an invasive pest species in Europe, found in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey ( Boubou et al., 2011; Kazak et al., 2017). According to the modeling distribution of T. evansi , as a tropical nondiapausing species (Migeon et al., 2009), its northward outdoor establishment in Eurasia appears to be mainly limited by cold stress. In this area, Mediterranean Basin corresponds to climatic borders for this mite where quite mild winters can explain its establishment, but this species could be able to survive in protected environments. In Serbia, this species was found on tomato grown in two greenhouses near Belgrade. Its possible introduction with infested plant materials would explain why this species is present in a country where the climatic conditions should not allow to this species to survive and settle.