Neoseiulus californicus ( McGregor 1954 ) sensu Athias-Henriot (1977)

Beaulieu, Frédéric & Beard, Jennifer J., 2018, Acarine biocontrol agents Neoseiulus californicus sensu Athias-Henriot (1977) and N. barkeri Hughes (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) redescribed, their synonymies assessed, and the identity of N. californicus (McGregor) clarified based on examination of types, Zootaxa 4500 (4), pp. 451-507 : 469

Neoseiulus californicus ( McGregor 1954) sensu Athias-Henriot (1977) —a well-established concept.

The morphological concept of N. californicus that has been universally applied for the past 40 years was first outlined by Athias-Henriot (1977; hereinafter “ Nc -AH” refers to that species concept), based on female specimens alone ( Griffiths, 2015). Prior to this concept, Schuster & Pritchard (1963) provided a similar species description, but it is unclear if it represents the same species as that of Athias-Henriot (see Griffiths (2015), and a section below). Redescriptions made since 1977 are all essentially compatible with Athias-Henriot’s concept, including that of Tixier et al. (2008) and Xu et al. (2013), and many others ( McMurtry, 1977; Beglyarov, 1981; Schicha, 1987; Jung et al., 2006; Guanilo et al., 2008a, b; Lofego et al., 2009; Kade et al., 2011; Abo-Shnaf & de Moraes, 2014; see also Demite et al., 2017). The male of Nc -AH was never described by Athias-Henriot; however, most features of the male were provided by Xu et al. (2013); other authors provide scant redescriptions of the male, with limited illustrations and/or measurements, that are based on males associated with females that are essentially compatible with Athias-Henriot’s concept ( Ramírez et al., 1988; Çakmak & Çobanoglu, 2006; Guanilo et al., 2008 a, 2008b; Papadoulis et al., 2009; Abo-Shnaf & de Moraes, 2014). The male of N. chilenensis ( Dosse, 1958b) , a widely recognised synonym of Nc -AH, was partially described by Dosse (1958b; who included the dorsal shield), Gonzalez & Schuster (1962), Hirschmann (1962), and Ehara (1964). The hundreds of publications that used the name N. californicus , in the context of biological research (e.g. surveys, behaviour, biocontrol), are most probably based on specimens compatible with Athias-Henriot’s concept (1977), largely because most available species descriptions, as well as most if not all identification keys (e.g. Pickett & Gilstrap, 1984; Ueckermann & Loots, 1988; Ehara & Amano, 1998; Denmark et al., 1999; Zhang, 2003; Papadoulis et al., 2009; Faraji et al., 2011; Rocha et al., 2014; Tixier et al., 2016), are in agreement with the species concept of N. californicus sensu Athias- Henriot (1977).

We have examined female specimens from various countries (see Table 1) that fit the Athias-Henriot (1977) concept both qualitatively (e.g. shape of spermathecal apparatus, shield ornamentation) and quantitatively (morphometrics; Table 3). The male specimens associated with these examined females are essentially compatible with published descriptions of the male of Nc -AH and N. chilenensis .