Neoseiulus teke (Pritchard and Baker)

Kreiter, Serge, Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A. & Payet, Rose-My, 2020, Phytoseiid mites of Mayotte Island (Acari: Mesostigmata), Acarologia 60 (3), pp. 622-642 : 625

Neoseiulus teke (Pritchard and Baker)

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) teke Pritchard & Baker 1962: 239 .

Amblyseius teke, Meyer & Rodrigues 1966: 30 ; Moraes et al. 1989a: 83, 1989b: 97.

Neoseiulus teke, Moraes et al. 1986: 98, 2004: 147 ; Chant & McMurtry 2003a: 37, 2007: 31. Amblyseius (Amblyseius) bibens Blommers 1973: 111 (synonymy according to Ueckermann & Loots 1988).

Neoseiulus teke belongs to the barkeri species group and the womersleyi species subgroup ( Chant and McMurtry 2003a). This species is found in sub-Saharan Africa often associated with Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar) , the cassava green mite (CGM). It has been studied for its potential use as a BCA against the CGM. Nwilene and Nachman (1996) studied its reproduction characteristics on M. tanajoa . It was more efficient than Iphiseius degenerans (Berlese) , but seems not efficient enough in field conditions ( Nwilene and Nachman 1996). Quilici et al. (2000) collected this species in La Réunion Island and it was reported recently by Kreiter et al. (2020c).

World distribution: Burundi, DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, La Réunion Island, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe.

Specimens examined: 4 specimens in total, 3 ♀♀ + 1 ♂. L’Abattoir, City Center (15 m

aasl, 12°47 ′ 18 ″ S, 45°16 ′ 21 ″ E), 1 ♀ + 1 ♂ on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. ( Malvaceae ) with eriophyid mite galls and 2 ♀♀ on Carica papaya L. ( Caricaceae ), 27/XI/2018.

Remarks: measurements of morphological characters of N. teke female and male specimens from Mayotte Island ( Tables 1 and 2) are very close to those specimens from neighbouring countries, especially from specimens of La Réunion Island ( Kreiter et al. 2020c) and various countries in Africa, except for the holotype ( Zannou et al. 2006) and specimens from South Africa which are larger ( van der Merwe 1965).