Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) moraesi Kreiter & Ueckermann, 2002

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2021, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Anjouan Island (Comoros Archipelago), Acarologia 61 (1), pp. 62-83 : 77-78

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) moraesi Kreiter & Ueckermann

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) moraesi Kreiter & Ueckermann in Kreiter et al. 2002: 338.

The biology of this species found in La Réunion Island by Kreiter et al. (2002) on various host plants ( Kreiter et al. 2002) and then in French Caribbean Islands ( Mailloux et al. 2010 ;

Kreiter et al. 2013) remains unknown.

Characters Anjouan Island Africa (3) Holotype Characters Anjouan Island Africa (3) Holotype (1) (this study) (1) (this study) Dsl 325 290 (285 – 295) 295 st1-st1 50 – – Dsw 180 206 (200 – 215) 190 st2-st2 53 55 (54 – 56) 50 j1 20 26 (25 – 27) – st3-st3 65 – – j3 38 43 (40 – 45) 48 st1-st3 55 55 (52 – 57) 59 j4 25 40 (37 – 41) 44 st4-st4 70 – – j5 30 40 (36 – 44) 43 Gensl 110 – – j6 33 55 (50 – 59) 57 Gensw st5 Not visible 55 (53 – 57) 55 J2 40 53 (50 – 55) 56 Gensw post. corn. Not visible – – J5 8 10 9 Lisl 30 – – r3 40 40 (38 – 43) 44 Lisw 4 – – R1 45 59 (58 – 60) 60 sisl 11 – – s4 58 61 (60 – 62) 63 Vsl 100 102 (98 – 104) 97 s6 55 65 (65 – 66) 67 Vsw ZV 2 90 89 (84 – 96) 85 S2 60 69 (68 – 71) 71 Vsw anus 68 – – S4 65 70 (70 – 71) 71 JV5 63 – – S5 22 22 (19 – 24) 17 SgeIII 19 22 (21 – 22) 20 z2 25 24 (23 – 25) 23 StiIII 18 18 (17 – 19) 19 z3 45 51 (50 – 51) 53 SgeIV 29 32 (31 – 32) 32 z4 48 56 (54 – 57) 58 StiIV 22 22 (21 – 24) 23 z5 29 38 (35 – 40) 38 StIV 45 40 (37 – 42) 43 Z4 60 63 (62 – 64) 62 Scl 10 14 (11 – 17) – Z5 66 64 (63 – 66) 63 Scw 8 – – Fdl 23 24 – No teeth Fd Not visible 2 – Mdl 26 27 – No teeth Md Not visible 1 – Sources of measurements – Africa (DR Congo 1♀, Nigeria 1♀, Uganda 1♀) & Holotype: Ueckermann et al. (2008); –: not provided.

World distribution: La Réunion Island.

Specimens examined: a single ♀ specimen collected during this study. Pomoni, exit of the village (34 m aasl, 12°17 ′ 01 ″ S, 44°24 ′ 52 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Cymbopogon citratus (De Candolle)

Stapf ( Poaceae ), 30/XI/2018.

Remarks: several species are found both in La Réunion Island (in the Indian Ocean) and in the West Indies, probably because of reciprocal introductions certainly long time ago with slaves markets and commercial exchanges between the two areas or because of introduction of plants in Antilles and La Réunion coming from the same African area than Slaves. The measurements and characteristics of the specimens collected fit very well with those given by

Kreiter et al. (2002) and with measurements of specimens from Rodrigues Island ( Kreiter and

Abo­Shnaf 2020a).