Transeius rufus (Denmark & Evans, 1999)

Kreiter, S., Mailloux, J., Tixier, M. - S., Le Bellec, F., Douin, M., Guichou, S. & Etienne, J., 2013, New Phytoseiid Mites Of The French West Indies, With Description Of A New Species, And New Records (Acari: Mesostigmata), Acarologia 53 (3), pp. 285-303 : 289-290

Transeius rufus ( Denmark and Evans)

Neoseiulus rufus Denmark and Evans, in Denmark et al., 1999: 73.

The biology of this species found only once in Honduras by Denmark and Evans (in Denmark et al., 1999) on the giant thatching grass Hyparrhenia rufa (Poaceae) , a hairy plant, is unknown.

Previous Records — Honduras ( Denmark et al., 1999).

Specimens examined — Martinique, Montagne PelØe, Parking, 14°48’N, 61°09’W, alt. 825 m, 2 ♀ on Urena lobata, Kreiter coll., 21 November 2010 .

Remarks — this is the first record of this species in the West Indies. The measurements of the two specimens collected fit very well the measurements given by Denmark et al. (1999), except setae r3 and R1 (30 µm in our two specimens instead of 16 in Denmark et al. (1999) on a single specimen). The average measurements of the two adult females presently found are as follow: dorsal shield sclerotized, five solenostomes (gd 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9), j1 23 – 24, j3 27 – 35, j4 9 – 10, j5 9, j6 9 – 10, J2 10 – 14, J5 8 – 10, z2 11 – 15, z4 20 – 30, z5 8 – 9, Z1 11 – 15, Z4 63, Z5 71 – 75, s4 47 – 50, S2 24 – 27, S4 12 – 14, S5 13 – 14, r3 16, R1 16, Z4 and Z5 serrated, st1-st1 53 – 59, st2-st2 62 – 65, st1-st3 60 – 62, posterior margin of the sternal shield concave, metapodal 1 length 23 – 28, width 3, metapodal 2 length 10 – 13, width 1, ventrianal shield 98 – 115 long, 90 – 92 wide at level of anterior corners and 80-88 wide at level of anus, 5 poroids around the ventri-aan shield and the genital shield, JV5 55 – 60, spermatheca 19 – 20 long and 5 – 7 width, SgeIV 44 – 45, StiIV 18 – 25, StIV 47 – 50, macrosetae all whip-like, fixed digit of chelicerae 30 with 7 denticles, mobile digit of chelicerae 32 without denticle.