Amblyseius tamatavensis 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 : 631-632

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers

Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers 1974: 144 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 31, 2004: 52; Denmark & Muma 1989: 13; Chant & McMurtry 2004: 203, 2007: 81; Ehara & Amano 2004: 17.

Amblyseius maai Tseng 1976: 123 (synonymy according to Denmark & Muma 1989).

Amblyseius aegyptiacus Denmark & Matthysse in Matthysse & Denmark 1981: 343 (synonymy according to Denmark & Muma 1989).

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) tamatavensis, Ehara 2002: 33 ; Ehara & Amano 2002: 322.

Amblyseius tamatavensis belongs to the obtusus species group and the aerialis species subgroup which contains 46 species ( Chant and McMurtry 2004). It seems to fit the functional type III-b (generalist predators living on glabrous leaves) group defined by McMurtry et al.

(2013). Cavalcante et al. (2017) reported this species as a promising natural enemy of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) . Experimental releases of this predator on caged plants in a screenhouse caused the reduction of the density of B. tabaci on pepper plants by up to 60–80 % ( Massaro and Moraes 2019). It can be easily produced in large numbers ( Massaro et al. 2018) when fed with astigmatine mites, which could allow the mass production for augmentative biological control. This species is reported in tropical areas from over 20 countries around the world (Africa, Asia, America and Oceania). It was recorded from La Réunion Island ( Quilici et al. 2000; Kreiter et al. 2020c), from Rodrigues Island ( Kreiter and Abo-Shnaf 2020a) and from Mauritius Island ( Ferragut and Baumann 2019; Kreiter and Abo-Shnaf 2020b).

World distribution: this species was described from Madagascar, but is actually widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Specimens examined: 4 specimens in total, 3 ♀♀ and 1 ♂. Combani, grower farm (104 m aasl, 12°47 ′ 14 ″ S, 45°7 ′ 57 ″ E), 3 ♀♀ on Capsicum annuum L. ( Solanaceae ), 26/XI/2018 and 1 ♂ on Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck ( Rutaceae ), 26/XI/2018.

Remarks: this species was described from Madagascar (Blommers 1974), then was mentioned in the Indian Ocean from La Réunion Island ( Quilici et al. 2000). Morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of our specimens fit well with those provided in Blommers (1974) for specimens from Madagascar, Ferragut and Baumann (2019) for specimens from Mauritius Island and Kreiter et al. (2020c) for specimens from La Réunion Island.