Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor, 1954)

Tixier, Marie-Stephane, Allam, Latifa, Douin, Martial & Kreiter, Serge, 2016, Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Morocco: new records, descriptions of five new species, re-descriptions of two species, and key for identification, Zootaxa 4067 (5), pp. 501-551 : 512

Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor, 1954)

Typhlodromus californicus McGregor, 1954: 89 .

Amblyseius californicus .—Schuster & Pritchard, 1963: 271.

Cydnodromus californicus .—Athias-Henriot, 1977: 62.

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) californicus .—Ueckermann & Loots, 1988: 150; Ehara et al., 1994: 126. Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) californicus .—Ehara & Amano, 1998: 33.

Neoseiulus californicus .—Moraes et al., 1986: 73; Moraes et al., 2004: 109; Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 25.

This species is distributed world-wide and has been introduced in several countries for biological control. It is commercialised and released in various crops to control mite pests, especially T. urticae and P. ulmi . It is also naturally found on uncultivated plants or crops such as apple. Many studies deal with its biology. Kreiter et al. (2007) cited this species from Moroccan fauna referring to the specimens reported here. Only nine specimens have been recorded.

Specimens examined: 2003, Settat on Hibiscus rosa -sinensis ( Malvaceae ) (1 female), Mechra Bel Ksiri on Ziziphus lotus (Rhamnaceae) (4 females), Spartel Cape on Pistacia lentiscus (Anacardiaceae) (1 female), Oued Nja on Calendula arvensis (Asteraceae) (1 female), 5 kms of Laaïoun-station 2 on Convolvulus altheoides (Convolvulaceae) (2 females).

Previous records: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Canary Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, France, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco (Kreiter et al., 2007), Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Serbia Montenegro, South Africa (Villiers & Pringle, 2011), South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela.