Amblyseius decolor (Westerboer, 1962)

Çobanoğlu, Sultan, Faraji, Farid & Cılbırcıoğlu, Cihan, 2018, Re-descriptions of Amblyseius decolor (Westerboer) and Proprioseiopsis sororculus (Wainstein) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) based on the specimens collected in Turkey and France, Acarologia 58 (4), pp. 825-836 : 826-828

Amblyseius decolor (Westerboer, 1962)

Typhlodromus decolor Westerboer , in Hirschmann, 1962: 25.

Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) decolor — Westerboer & Bernhard, 1963: 654.

Typhlodromips decolor — Moraes et al., 1986: 139, 2004: 211.

Amblyseius (Typhlodromips) decolor — Karg, 1991.

Amblyseius decolor — Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 78; Prasad, 2012: 393; Demite et al., 2018. Amblyseius lutezhicus Wainstein, 1972: 1408 . (new synonymy).

Female — Turkish strain of Amblyseius decolor (n=1) ( Figure 1 )

Idiosomal setal pattern: 10A:9B/JV–3:ZV.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Figure 1A ) — Dorsal shield 340 long and 200 wide j at 6 level, mostly smooth with some striae laterally; with 19 pairs of dorsal setae r (3 and R1 included), dorsal setae smooth, except for Z4 and Z5, slightly serrate; lengths j1 28, j3 48, j4 5, j5 5, j6 5, J2 13,

J5 8, z2 10, z4 38, z5 5, Z1 8, Z4 90, Z5 98, s4 78, S2 25, S4 18, S5 13; setae r3 15 and R1 18

on lateral integument; dorsal shield with 6 pairs of large solenostomes gd (1, gd2, gd4, gd6, gd8 and gd9), and 10 pairs of poroids.

Peritreme — Extending beyond the insertions of setae j1 ( Figure 1A ).

Ventral idiosoma ( Figure 1B ) — Sternal shield mostly smooth with some slight striae anterior and laterally and with faint lines medially, 65 long and 75 wide at level of setae ST2, with two pairs of poroids iv (1 and iv2) and three pairs of setae, ST1 20, ST2 28, ST3 25; distances between ST1–ST3 60 and ST2–ST2 66; metasternal setae ST4 23 and a pair of poroids (iv3) on small platelets; genital shield smooth at middle and with a few striae laterally, width 70 at widest point, ST5 (18) distances between ST5–ST5 71; two pairs of metapodal shields, primary 25 and accessory 13 long; ventrianal shield subpentagonal, with some striae between JV1 and paranals; length 118, width at level of setae ZV2 95 and width at level of paranal setae 92; with three pairs of preanal setae (JV1 18, JV2 23, ZV2 18); four pairs of setae surrounding ventrianal shield on integument JV (4 13, JV5 50, ZV1 13, ZV3 13); ventrianal shield with a pair of non-aligned small round pores posteriad to JV2, and muscle marks posterolaterally, distance between these pores 38 and the distance between insertions of JV2–JV2 48.

Spermatheca — Calyx very long 60 snake-shaped, atrium incorporated in the calyx whose walls are thickened at the anterior tip, calyx gets Λ-shaped one-fourths of its length towards vesicle, minor duct not visible ( Figure 1C ).

Chelicera — Fixed digit 28 long with 6 small teeth and pilus dentilis; movable digit 25 long with two widely separated teeth ( Figure1D ).

Legs — Leg IV ( Figure 1E ) with three macrosetae, all pointed apically, SgeIV 60, StiIV 40,

StIV 75; distance from base of macrosetae to slit like organ 58, chaetotatic formulae of genua and tibiae I–II–III–IV with 10(2-2/1, 2/1-2) – 8(2-2/1, 2/0-1) – 7(1-2/1, 2/0-1) – 7(1-2/1, 2/0-1)

and 10(2-2/1, 2/1-2) – 7(1-1/1, 2/1-1) – 7(1-1/1, 2/1-1) – 6(1-1/1, 2/0-1) setae respectively.

Specimen examined — 1♀, 14 August 2015, stored garlic bulbs, Taşköprü-Kastamonu (41°31′00.94″ N 34°11′46.74″ E) collected by Cihan Cılbırcıoğlu.

Female — French strain of Amblyseius decolor (n=5) ( Figure 2 & 4A )

Due to the similarities in features with the Turkish specimen, only the measurements are provided.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Figure 2A ) — Dorsal shield 332 (330–340) long and 210 (200–220) wide at j6 level; setal lengths: j1 23 (18–28), j3 34 (33–38), j4 4 (3–5), j5 4 (3–5), j6 4 (3–5), J2

7 (5–8), J5 10 (9–10), z2 8 (8–10), z4 19 (13–25), z5 3, Z1 9 (8–10), Z4 68 (63–70), Z5 73 (68–80), s4 64 (60–68), S2 18 (15–20), S4 12 (10–15), S5 11 (8–13); setae r3 13 (10–15) and

R1 11 (8–15) on lateral integument.

Ventral idiosoma ( Figure 2B ) — Sternal shield 59 (58–63) long and 73 (68–75) wide at level of setae ST2; ST1 33 (33–35), ST2 25 (23–28), ST3 26 (23–28); distances between ST1-ST3

58 – 63 and ST2–ST2 66 – 70; ST4 29 (23–39); genital shield width at widest point 72 (68–75) and ST5 25 (20–28); distances between ST5-ST5 69 – 75; primary metapodal shields 23 (18–25) and accessory 19 (18–20) long; ventrianal shield length 109 (103–115), width at level of setae ZV2, 94 (93–105), and 94 (93–98) width at level of paranal setae; setae JV1 17 (15–20), JV2

21 (20–23), ZV2 16 (13–18), JV4 10 (8–10), JV5 46 (43–50), ZV1 17 (15–20), ZV3 11 (8–13); distance between preanal pores 29 (25–38) and JV2–JV2 45 (40–51).

Spermatheca — Calyx very long 51 (48–58) ( Figure 2C & 4A ).

Chelicera — Fixed digit 32 (28–38) and movable digit 27 (25–30) long with two widely separated teeth ( Figure 2D ).

Legs — Leg IV ( Figure 2E ) SgeIV 54 (48–60), StiIV 40 (33–48), StIV 61 (60–65); distance from base of macrosetae to slit like organ 58 (53–60).

Specimens examined — 2♀♀, 21 August 2003; 3♀♀ 17 October 2003 Buzet, Lot-et-

Garonne, Southwest France (44°15′53.6″ N 0°17′57.5″ E), ground weeds (apple orchard), Mitox,

collected by F. Bakker.

Distribution — Armenia ( Wainstein, 1977); France ( Tixier et al., 2000); Moldova ( Kolodochka, 1980), Portugal ( Espinha et al., 1998); Spain ( Hirschmann, 1962; Escudero

& Ferragut, 1998); Turkey (this study) and Ukraine ( Wainstein, 1972).

Remarks — This is the first report of A. decolor from Turkey. Most of the morphological features of the specimen found in Turkey are similar to those collected in France as well as in the original descriptions of A. decolor and A. lutezhicus . One of the noticeable differences is the length of z4 and its ratio to the distance between insertions of z4 and s4. Seta z 4 reaching the insertion of s 4 in the Turkish specimen while for the French specimens and specimen re-described by Ferragut et al. (2010) that is half and for the specimens collected in Ukraine ( Wainstein, 1972) is almost one-thirds. The Turkish specimen has longer some dorsal shield setae as mentioned in Table 1. This observation shows to some extends variability in setal lengths in this species. The shape of spermatheca A in. decolor is very unique and does share it with two other closely related species, which are assigned in another genus ( Transeius ). Transeius infundibulatus ( Athias-Henriot, 1961) and T. macrospermathecus Papadoulis, Emmanouel & Kapaxidi, 2009 described from Spain and Greece, respectively show a close affinity with A. decolor in many respects. Ignoring slightly longer S2 seta, the specimen of A. decolor collected in Turkey resembles T. macrospermathecus in all respects and the minor differences fall within intraspecific variation. It is astonishing enough to find that these two species suspected being conspecific classified in two different genera: Amblyseius and Transeius . In another study, Tsolakis et al. (2012) have shown that Transeius montdorensis (Schicha) is closely related to Amblyseius andersoni (Chant) and A. swirskii Athias-Henriot. Therefore , there would be a question about the integrity of the genus Amblyseius and the validity of the genus Transeius . A molecular study on A. decolor , T. macrospermathecus and T. infundibulatus or more collection of specimens from Europe might reveal these species conspecific. If these species turn to be conspecific then T. infundibulatus would be the valid name.

Figures

Figure 1 Amblyseius decolor(Westerboer)-Turkey, female: A – Dorsal view; B – Ventral view; C – Spermathecae; D – Chelicera; E – Genu, tibia and basitarsus IV.

Figure 2 Amblyseius decolor(Westerboer)-France female: A – Dorsal view; B – Ventral view; C – Spermathecae; D – Chelicera; E – Genu, tibia and basitarsus IV.

Figure 4 Spermatheca of females of A –Amblyseius decolor(Westerboer); B – Proprioseiopsis sororculus(Wainstein).