Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) shoshae, Palevsky & Gal & Ueckermann, 2009

Palevsky, Eric, Gal, Shira & Ueckermann, Edward A., 2009, Phytoseiidae from date palms in Israel with descriptions of two new taxa and a key to the species found on date palms worldwide (Acari: Mesostigmata), Journal of Natural History 43 (27 - 28), pp. 1715-1747 : 1740-1743

Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) shoshae sp. nov.

( Figure 9A–D )

Type material

Holotype female from fruit of date palm, P. dactylifera, Samar , 25 July 2000, collected by Mrs Shosh Peles.

Diagnosis

Setae S5 absent and Z4 almost transversely aligned with S4; ventrianal shield oval with three pairs of preanal setae, setae ZV2 on integument; calyx of spermatheca tube-like, constricted adjacent to bulged atrium.

Female (n = 1)

Dorsum ( Figure 9A ). Dorsal shield elongate-oval and vaguely reticulate on opisthosoma, 324 long and 152 wide. Four pairs of solenostomes present, gd2, gd6, gd8 and gd9. Dorsal setae smooth, except for setae Z4 and Z5, serrate and longer than others. Lengths of setae: j1 22, j3 31, j4 17, j5 18, j6 21, J2 21, J5 7, z2 17, z3 23, z4 21, z5 19, Z4 42, Z5 62, s4 23, s6 30, S2 34, S4 39, r3 24, R1 24. Setae r3 and R1 on integument .

Peritreme. Extending to or anterior to level of setae j3.

Venter ( Figure 9B ). Sternal shield with two pairs of setae and lyrifissures. Setae ST3 and ST4 on small metasternal shields, third pair of sternal lyrifissures associated with ST4. Posterior margin of shield with a median lobe. Distances ST1–ST3 63, ST2–ST2 56 and ST5–ST5 65. Genital shield smooth. Ventrianal shield vase-shaped and smooth, 92 long, 60 wide at level of setae ZV2 (on integument) and 68 at level of anal opening; with three pairs of preanal setae and without preanal pores. Opisthogaster with seven pairs of small platelets, four slender platelets between genital and ventrianal shields, five pairs of setae, JV3 present, and two pairs of metapodal shields, secondary shield much smaller.

100 µm

Chelicera. Unfortunately the position of the chelicerae renders an examination impossible.

Spermatheca ( Figure 9C ). Calyx cylindrical, constricted adjacent to atrium, 23 long; atrium bulged.

Legs ( Figure 9D ). Leg IV with only one macroseta, St IV 39 long with a small distal knob. Chaetotaxy of genu II: 2-2/0, 2/0-1, genu III: 1-2/1, 2/0-1.

Remarks

This species differs from the closely related Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) leptodactylus Wainstein by the longer dorsal setae (j1 9, j3 15, s4 15, s6 17, S2 18, S4 20, Z4 19 and Z5 25 in latter opposed to 24, 30, 24, 31, 36, 39, 45 and 72, respectively, in new species); posterior margin of sternal shield with a median lobe, instead of straight; ventrianal shield oval, narrower than genital shield anteriorly, instead of pentagonal and as broad as or broader than genital shield, and by the longer peritremes, extending anteriorly to level of j3, instead of to level of z2.

Etymology

This species is named after Mrs Shosh Peles who dedicated much of her time to the promotion of date mite IPM.

The species Neoseiulus mumai ( Denmark) and N. paspalivorus (De Leon) are only mentioned in the key hereunder and so not encountered during this study. They are included just to make the list of phytoseiids associated with date palms and Bermuda grass as complete as possible. We included N. mumai because according to Tuttle and Muma (1973) it seems to mainly inhabit grasses and N. mumai was also found on Bermuda grass, C. dactylon ( Muma et al. 1970) .

Key to phytoseiid species found in date palm orchards world-wide. Females

1. Setae z3 and s6 absent..................... Amblyseiinae .......... 2

- Either or both setae z3 and s6 present...... Typhlodrominae ..........14

2. Preanal setae almost transversely aligned in two rows, JV1 almost in line with ZV2 not inserted on anterior margin of ventrianal shield; peritremes usually not extending beyond j3; posterior margin of sternal shield with a lobed........................................... Euseius Wainstein calyx of spermatheca a long tube which gradually broadens towards vesicle; leg IV with three knobbed or blunt macrosetae.............................................................. E. scutalis (Athias-Henriot)

- Preanal setae not arranged as above, JV1 inserted on anterior margin of ventrianal shield; peritreme usually reach pass j3; posterior margin of sternal shield not lobed............................................... 3

3. Setae J2 absent.............................. Proprioseiopsis Muma. ................................. Proprioseiopsis beatus (Chaudhri)

- Setae J2 present............................................... 4

4. Setae s4, Z4 and Z5 much longer than rest of dorsal setae, most of which may be minute; ventrianal shield vase-shaped or oval, calyx of spermatheca cylindrical; legs I-III usually with macrosetae.......... Amblyseius Berlese. .................................... Amblyseius largoensis (Muma)

- Setae s4, Z4 and Z5 never greatly longer, than rest of dorsal setae which are subequal in length; ventrianal shield never vase-shaped or oval; legs I–III usually without macrosetae............. Neoseiulus Hughes. ......... 5

5. Ventral setae ZV3 absent............................ N. cozae sp. nov.

- Ventral setae ZV3 present....................................... 6

6. Dorsal shield more than twice its width, with “shoulders” at level of setae r3.... 7

- Dorsal shield at most 1.5 times as long as wide, without shoulder at level of setae r3...................................................... 9

7. Fixed and movable digits with six or seven teeth and one tooth, respectively..................................................... N. paspalivorus (De Leon)

- Fixed and movable digits with eight or nine teeth and two teeth,......... respectively................................................... 8

8. Seta S5 at most as long as distance to base of Z5; sternal shield................ reticulate............................................ N. mumai ( Denmark)

- Seta S5 at least 1.5 times as long as distance to Z5; sternal shield with only a few striae........................... N. rambami (Swirski and Amitai)

9. Spermatheca with atrium bifid......................................... 10

- Atrium nodular.............................................. 11

10. Calyx of spermatheca bell-shaped with long constriction towards atrium........................................................ N. marginatus (Wainstein)

- Calyx a short, broad tube, without a distinct constriction towards atrium................................................ … N. barkeri Hughes

11. Calyx of spermatheca bell-shaped....................................... 12

- Calyx bowl-shaped............................................ 13

12. Calyx of spermatheca with distinct segmented constriction towards atrium; movable cheliceral digit without teeth, fixed digit with three teeth......................................................... N. conterminusus (Kolodochka)

- Calyx of spermatheca without distinct segmented constriction towards atrium; movable cheliceral digit with one tooth, fixed digit with four teeth............................. N. cucumeris (Oudemans) ......... 13

13. Sternal shield striate; calyx of spermatheca with a stalk adjacent to atrium........................................................ N. bicaudus (Wainstein)

- Sternal shield smooth; calyx of spermatheca without a stalk adjacent to atrium.................................... N. comitatus (De Leon)

14. Setae z3 absent, Z1 present….............................. Cydnoseius Muma. ................................... Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski and Amitai)

- Setae z3 present, Z1 absent..................................... 15

15. Setae JV1, JV3 and ZV1 present........................................ 16

- Setae JV1, JV3, JV4 and ZV1 absent.......... Africoseiulella Kreiter and Tixier. ............................... Africoseiulella flechtmanni Kreiter and Tixier

16. Setae S5 present close to Z5, S2 and S4 absent....................................................................... Metaseiulus (Metaseiulus) Muma. ............................... Metaseiulus (Metaseiulus) flumensis (Chant)

- Setae S5 absent, S2 and S4 present Z4 almost transversely aligned with S4..................... Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) Scheuten. ........ 17

17. Ventrianal shield squarish or pentagonal with four pairs of pre-anal setae....... (ZV2 on shield).......................... T. (T.) athiasae Porath and Swirski

- Ventrianal shield oval with three pairs of preanal setae (ZV2 off shield).......................................................... T. (T.) shoshae sp. nov.

Figures

Figure 9. Typhlodromus shoshae. (A) Dorsal view; (B) ventral view; (C) spermatheca; (D) leg IV.