Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga, 1904

ZahidiK, Abdelaziz, Akchour, Abdellah, K, Serge Kreiter, TixierK, Marie-Stéphane, MsandaK, Fouad & MousadikK, Abdelhamid El, 2023, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Central West Morocco: new records and key to females of all recorded Moroccan species, Acarologia 63 (3), pp. 691-724 : 705

Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga

Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga 1904: 178 ; Chant 1959: 108 ; Moraes et al. 2004a: 252 ; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 129.

Phytoseius (Dubininellus) finitimus, Wainstein 1959: 1365 .

Phytoseius (Pennaseius) finitimus, Pritchard & Baker 1962: 223 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 214. Pennaseius finitimus, Schuster & Pritchard 1963: 279 .

Phytoseius (Phytoseius) finitimus , Denmark 1966: 16.

Phytoseius dubinini ( Beglyarov 1958) : 116 (Synonymy according to Pritchard & Baker 1962).

World distribution — Algeria, Azores, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and USA.

Previous records from Morocco — This species was reported from Morocco for the first time by Tixier et al. (2016). It was collected on several regions and plants such as Mentha

spp. L. ( Lamiaceae ), Ficus carica L. ( Moraceae ), Salix pedicellata Desf. ( Salicaceae ), and

Coleostephus myconis (L.) Rchb.f. ( Asteraceae ).

Specimens examined — 6 ♀♀ on citrus leaves in July 2017 at Taoufiqui 1 domain.

Remarks — The measurements of adult females collected agree with those provided by

Tixier et al. (2016) for specimens from Morocco. Phytoseius finitimus is often recorded on plants with highly pubescent leaves ( Walter 1992 ; McMurtry and Croft, 1997). It is found in higher densities on such host plants ( Tixier et al. 1998 ; Duso and Vettorazzo 1999),

suggesting that it may be promising candidates for biological control of pests. Hairy structures may offer shelters and domatia with favourable microclimatic conditions (increased relative humidity, reduced temperature) for the development and reproduction of this mite ( Walter

1996; McMurtry and Croft 1997 ; Tixier et al. 1998 ; Kreiter et al. 2003). Phytoseius finitimus is a generalist phytoseiid mite mainly recorded in the Mediterranean region on a variety of both cultivated and non-cultivated plants, such as grapevine, hazelnut, citrus, walnut, mulberry,

peach, plum, pomegranate, and cotton ( Swirski and Ragusa 1977 ; Duso and Vettorazzo 1999 ;

Papaioannou Souliotis et al. 1999; Tsolakis et al. 2000 ; Nomikou et al. 2001). It is a natural enemy of tetranychid and eriophyid mites, but it also feeds on small insect and pollen ( Nomikou et al. 2001 ; Momen and El-Borolossy 2010).