Neoseiulus idaeus, Denmark & Muma, 1973

Ferragut, Francisco & Navia, Denise, 2022, The genus Neoseiulus Hughes (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) in the Espinhaço Range, a great reservoir of biodiversity in Brazil, Zootaxa 5120 (4), pp. 523-542 : 535

Neoseiulus idaeus Denmark & Muma, 1973

Neoseiulus idaeus Denmark & Muma, 1973: 266.

Amblyseius idaeus .— Moraes & McMurtry, 1983: 134.

Cydnodromus idaeus .— Tixier et al., 2011: 273.

Neoseiulus tridenticus Ueckermann, Moraes & Zannou in Zannou et al., 2006: 271. Synonymy by Guanilo et al., 2008a: 28. Cydnodromus picanus Ragusa 2000: 4 . Synonymy by Tixier et al., 2011: 278.

Specimens examined. One female on unidentified Asteraceae ; rupestrian grassland, road Andarai-Mucugê, Chapada Diamantina, 12º58’14”S, 41º20’04”W, 1103 m asl; 10 January 2011. One female, one male on Andropogon leucostachyus (Poaceae) ; Mucugê, Chapada Diamantina, 12º53’49”S, 41º18’58”W, 1125 m asl; 19 January 2012. One female on Thrasya petrosa (Poaceae) ; Igatú, Chapada Diamantina, 12º54’27”S, 41º19’21”W, 790 m asl; 19 January 2012. Two females on unidentified Myrtaceae ; pedestrian grassland on sandy soils, Mucugê, Chapada Diamantina, 13º00’20”S, 41º23’30”W, 982 m asl; 21 January 2012.

Geographical distribution. Neotropical species released throughout the African cassava belt in the 80’s for the control of the cassava green mite Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar) ( Yaninek et al. 1992, 1993). Also present in Cape Verde islands ( Ferragut & Baumann 2021).

Additional description (five females). Dorsal shield 332 (320–349) long, 154 (149–161) wide. Dorsal setae j1 21 (19–24), j3 48 (47–50), j4 40 (38–42), j5 42 (41–44), j6 57 (55–61), J2 59 (53–63), J5 11 (10–12), z2 49 (45–53), z4 49 (46–54), z5 42 (40–43), Z1 57 (54–59), Z4 61 (58–68), Z5 66 (60–73), s4 58 (53–64), S2 58 (50–63), S4 42 (36–46), S5 42 (31–48). Sublaterals r3 42 (33–47), R1 39 (35–42). Length of peritremes 170 (168–173). Sternal shield wider than long; 57 (55–60) long, 66 (65–68) wide. Ventrianal shield 110 (106–119) long, 81 (76–90) wide at level of setae ZV2, 72 (68–80) wide at level of anus. Distance between pre-anal pores 18 (16–21). Setae JV5 51 (48–53). Genua II and III with seven setae. Setal formula of genu II 2 2/0, 2/0 1; of genu III 1 2/1, 2/0 1. Macroseta on basitarsus IV 56 (49–62) long.

Remarks. It has been demonstrated the morphological variability of this species (e.g. Tixier et al. 2011; Ferragut & Baumann 2021), in particular with reference to the position of setae st3 and the occurrence of dorsal solenostome gd2. All the females examined have the setae st3 inserted on the posterior part of the sternal shield and the gland opening gd2 is absent (they only have gd1, gd6 and gd9). In general, the setal measurements were similar to those reported for specimens from Argentina and Chile ( Guanilo et al. 2008a; Ragusa 2000 in the description of Neoseiulus picanus ), Brazil ( Moraes & McMurtry 1983) and other South American countries. On the contrary, the females were a 10% smaller and the dorsal setae about a 10% shorter than those reported for mites collected in Cape Verde ( Ferragut & Baumann 2021), which moreover have pores gd2 on the dorsal shield.