Amblyseius herbicolus (Chant)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Mohéli Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 94-114 : 98-99

Amblyseius herbicolus (Chant)

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) herbicolus Chant 1959: 84 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) herbicolus, Muma 1961: 287 .

Typhlodromus herbicolus, Hirschmann 1962: 23 .

Amblyseius herbicolus, Moraes et al. 1986: 14, 1989: 79 , 2004b: 27; Chant & McMurtry 2004:

208, 2007: 78.

Amblyseius impactus Chaudhri 1968: 553 (synonymy according to Daneshvar & Denmark 1982).

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) amitae Bhattacharyya 1968: 677 (synonymy according to Denmark

& Muma 1989).

Amblyseius deleoni Muma & Denmark 1970: 68 (synonymy according to Daneshvar & Denmark 1982).

Amblyseius giganticus Gupta 1981: 33 (synonymy according to Gupta 1986).

Amblyseius (Amblyseialus) thermophilus Karg 1991: 12 (synonymy according to El­Banhawy

& Knapp 2011).

This species belongs to the largoensis species group as setae J2 and Z1 are present, setae s4

are minute and the ventrianal shield of the female is vase­shaped. It belongs to the largoensis species subgroup as setae Z4 are long, spermatheca has the calyx elongate and the female ventrianal shield is entire ( Chant and McMurtry 2004).

Amblyseius herbicolus is widespread in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is the second most abundant phytoseiid mite on Coffea arabica L. in Brazil, associated with

Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes) , vector of the coffee ring spot virus and it was found to be an efficient predator ( Reis et al. 2007). Amblyseius herbicolus is also found associated with the broad mite, P. latus , in crops such as chili pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) in Brazil and has also a good potential for controlling the pest. Rodriguez­Cruz et al. (2013) had studied biological,

reproductive and life table parameters of A. herbicolus on three different diets: broad mites,

castor bean pollen ( Ricinus communis L.) and sun hemp pollen ( Crotalaria juncea L.). The predator was able to develop and reproduce on all three these diets. However, its intrinsic growth rate was higher on broad mites and castor bean pollen. Feeding on alternative food such as pollen can facilitate the predator’s mass rearing and maintain its population on crops when prey is absent or scarce. Many polyphagous generalist phytoseiid mites are important natural enemies because they can feed on plant provided pollen and various prey species, and thus persist in crops even in the absence of target pests ( McMurtry et al. 2013). Hence, populations of these predators can be established in a crop by providing alternative food, thus increasing biological control. Alternative food affects P. latus control on chilli pepper plants by predatory mites ( Duarte et al. 2015). Amblyseius herbicolus had high oviposition and population growth rates when fed with cattail pollen Typha (latifolia L.), chilli pepper pollen and bee­collected pollen, and a low rate on the alternative prey ( Tetranychus urticae Koch ). Supplementing pepper plants with pollen resulted in better control of broad mite populations ( Duarte et al. 2015). Release of A. herbicolus on young plants with weekly addition of honeybee pollen or cattail pollen until plants produce flowers seems a viable strategy to sustain populations of this predator ( Duarte et al. 2015).

World distribution: Argentina, Australia, Azores, Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Canary Islands, China, Colombia, Grande Comore Island, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Dr Congo, El Salvador, Ghana, Guadeloupe Island, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Les Saintes, La Réunion and Madagascar Islands, Malawi, Malaysia, Martinique Island, New Caledonia Island, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Venezuela, West Indies.

Specimens examined: 18 specimens (10 ♀♀, 5 ♂♂ and 3 imm.) collected during this study. Hoani, inside village (38 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 3 ″ S, 43°44 ′ 34 ″ E), 1 ♂ on Theobroma cacao L. ( Malvaceae ), 3/XII/2018 ; Bangoma, top of the village (42 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 15 ″ S, 43°43 ′ 40 ″

E), 2 ♀♀ and 1 imm. on Morinda citrifolia L. ( Rubiaceae ), 1 ♂ on Dendrocnide moroides (Weddel) Chew (Urticacae) , 4/XII/2020 ; Bangoma, Les Hauts (137 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 18 ″ S,

43°43 ′ 41 ″ E), 1 ♂ and 1 imm. on Asplenium petiolulatum Mettenius (Aspleniaceae) , 1 ♀ and

1 imm. on Cinnamomum odoratum Schäffer (Lauraceae) , 1 ♀ and 1 ♂ on Annona muricata

L. ( Annonaceae ), 3 ♀♀ on Mangifera indica L. (Annacardiaceae), 1 ♂ on Litchi chinensis Sonnerat (Sapindaceae) , 2 ♀♀ on Artocarpus altilis J.R. Forster and G. Forster (Moraceae) and

1 ♀ on an unknown host plant, 4/XII/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements fit well measurements provided in Kreiter et al. (2018b, 2020c, d). Amblyseius herbicolus was previously recorded in a lot of countries world­wide and especially in French West Indies ( Moraes et al. 2000, Kreiter et al. 2006). It was first reported by Kreiter et al. (2018b) in the Comoros Archipelago in Grande Comore Island with two females collected. Amblyseius herbicolus was reported in the past from La Réunion Island from few specimens ( Quilici et al. 1997, 2000) and more recently from a lot of specimens ( Kreiter et al. 2020d). It is also reported recently from Vietnam ( Kreiter et al. 2020c), Rodrigues and Maurice Islands (Kreiter and Abo­Shnaf 2020a, b) but only from females.

The five male specimens of that species collected in this study will be redescribed in a following paper.