Amblyseius parasundi Blommers, 1974

Kreiter, Serge, Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A. & Payet, Rose-My, 2020, Phytoseiid mites of Mayotte Island (Acari: Mesostigmata), Acarologia 60 (3), pp. 622-642 : 630

Amblyseius parasundi Blommers

Amblyseius (Proprioseiopsis) parasundi Blommers 1974: 144 .

Amblyseius parasundi, Moraes et al. 1986: 27, 2004: 46 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) parasundi , Denmark & Muma 1989: 19.

This species have no setae Z1 and consequently belongs to the sundi species group and having the spermatheca elongate, tub-like, belongs to the sundi species subgroup. Despite its high population on fruit trees in Madagascar and preying on tetranychid mites ( Blommers and Gutierrez 1975), its biology is totally unknown.

World distribution: Madagascar Island.

Specimens examined: 29 specimens in total, 24 ♀♀, 4 ♂♂ and 1 im. Coconi, Maison de L’Office National des Forêts (156 m aasl, 12°50 ′ 1 ″ S, 45°8 ′ 5 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Persea americana Miller (Lauraceae) and 2 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ on Terminalia catappa L. ( Combretaceae ), 24/XI/2018; Miréréni (356 m aasl, 12°47 ′ 45 ″ S, 45°9 ′ 28 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Calophyllum inophyllum Poiret (Calophyllaceae) and 1 ♀ on Pteridium aqualinum (L.) Kuhn ( Dennstaedtiaceae ), 24/XI/2018; Combani, gîte du Mont Combani (437 m aasl, 12°48 ′ 23 ″ S, 45°9 ′ 17 ″ E), 2 ♀♀ on Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamarck (Moraceae) , 1 ♀ on Malvaviscus arboreus Cavanilles (Malvaceae) ,

1 ♀ and 1 ♂ on Cananga odorata (Lamarck) Hook & Thomson (Annonaceae) , 3 ♀♀ on Psidium guajava L. ( Myrtaceae ), 1 ♂ on Cocos nucifera L. ( Arecaceae ), 2 ♀♀ on Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg (Moraceae) , 1 ♀ on P. americana and 2 ♀♀ on Psidium cattleianum Afzelius ex. Sabine ( Myrtaceae ), 25/XI/2018; Coconi, Lycée Agricole (189 m aasl, 12°50 ′ 7 ″ S, 45°8 ′ 11 ″ E), 1 ♀ on A. altilis , 1 ♀ on Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae ), 1 ♀ on Syngonium podophyllum Schott (Araceae) and 1 ♀ on Piper nigrum L. ( Piperaceae ), 26/XI/2018; Combani, grower farm (104 m aasl, 12°47 ′ 14 ″ S, 45°7 ′ 57 ″ E), 2 ♀♀ on C. odorata and 1 ♀ and 1 im. on Theobroma cacao L. ( Malvaceae ), 26/XI/2018; L’Abattoir, Dziani lake (23 m aasl, 12°46 ′ 14 ″

S, 45°17 ′ 18 ″ E), 1 ♂ on A. altilis , 27/XI/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements ( Table 4 ) fit quite well with few measurements from the other studies ( Table 4 ) except some setae which are 10–20% longer (Z5, JV5, SgeIV, StiIV and StIV) or 10–40% shorter (j3, r3) in Mayotte specimens. This is the second more common species of our samplings. Amblyseius sundi is reported by Blommers (1974) as being a thelytokous species in mass-rearing and field collected specimens and similar information is also mentioned by Denmark and Muma (1989). Four males were however collected during our study.