Neoseiulus teke Pritchard & Baker

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 131-134

Neoseiulus teke Pritchard & Baker

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

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

Neoseiulus teke, Moraes et al. 1986: 98 ; Chant & McMurtry 2003a: 37; Moraes et al. 2004a: 147; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 31.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) bibens Blommers 1973: 111 (synonymy according to Ueckermann & Loots 1988).

Like N. barkeri , N. longispinosus and N. scapilatus , N. teke belongs to the barkeri species group and like N. longispinosus and N. scapilatus , it belongs to the womersleyi species subgroup (see above) ( 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 as 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) have collected this species before in La Réunion. Exact indications of locations were provided in the paper but without any measurements of specimens collected. Measurements of specimens collected during this study are provided in table 10.

Specimens examined: 12 ♀♀ in total + 6 ♂♂ + 2 im., 10 ♀♀ + 2 ♂♂ measured. Saint- Pierre – Bassin-Plat CIRAD Research Station (aasl 153 m, Long 55°29’18” E, Lat 21°19’25” S), 1 ♀ + 1 im. on M. repens , 20/2/2017; 1 ♀ on A. hispidum , 1 ♀ + 1 im. on M. repens , 1 ♀ + 1 ♂ on P. maximum , 30/3/2017; 4 ♀♀ + 1 ♂ on M. repens , 3/4/2017; 2 ♀♀ + in plots HM, 1 ♀ + 1 ♂ in plot CC, 1 ♀ in plot H, 4/4/2017 and 6/4/2017.

Remarks: measurements of morphological characters of N. teke female and male specimens from La Réunion ( Table 10 ) are very close from measurements for specimens from neighbouring countries, especially from specimens from various countries in Africa, except for the holotype ( Zannou et al. 2006) and specimens from South Africa which are larger ( van der Merwe 1965).