Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) moraesi Kreiter and Ueckermannn

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 : 296-297

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) moraesi Kreiter and Ueckermannn

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

The biology of this species found only one time in La RØunion Island by Kreiter et al. (2002) on various host plants ( Kreiter et al., 2002) remains unknown.

Previous Records — La RØunion Island ( Kreiter et al., 2002).

Specimens examined — Guadeloupe, Basse- Terre, Vieux-Habitants, Station Le Bouchu du CIRAD, 16°03’N, 61°45’W, alt. 21 m, 18 ♀, 2 ♂ and 1 immature extractred from a mixture of herbaceous plants collected in an experimental citrus crop ( Achyranthhes aspera , Chamaescye hypericifolia , Chloris inflata , Cleome rutidosperma , Croton lobatus , Dicanthium annulatum , Echinochloa colona , Indigofera tinctoria , Macroptilium lathyroides , Merremia umbellata , Panicum maximum , Rhynchosia minima , Solanum americanum , Tridax procumbens , Urena lobata , Vernonia cinerea ), Mailloux coll., April to December 2008.

Remarks — this is the first record of this species in the West Indies. Several species are found both in La RØunion Island (in the Indian Ocean) and in the West Indies, probably because of reciprocal introductions certainly long time ago with slaves and commercial exchanges between the two areas or because of introduction of plants in Antilles and La RØunion coming from the same African area than Slaves. The measurements and description of the specimens collected fit very well those given by Kreiter et al. (2002).

The average measurements of five adult females among the 18 presently found are: dorsal shield sclerotized and reticulated, dorsal shield length 369 (350 – 397), width 221 (194 – 260), 6 solenostomes (gd 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9), j1 22 (20 – 23), j3 16 (14 – 17), j4 10 (7 – 12), j5 10 (8 – 12), j6 13 (12 – 14), J2 14 (12 – 17), J5 11 (10 – 13), z2 14 (12 – 16), z3 16 (14 – 19), z4 16 (14 – 17), z5 12 (11 – 13), Z4 19 (17 – 22), Z5 35 (29 – 38), s4 18 (16 – 21), s6 19 (17 – 21), S2 21 (18 – 23), S4 24 (20 – 26), S5 23 (18 – 26), r3 16 (13 – 20), R1 18 (16 – 23), some setae serrated, st1-st1 50 (49 – 52), st2-st2 57 (55 – 58), st1-st3 68 (66 – 70), posterior margin of the sternal shield concave, metapodal 1 length 26 (24 – 27), width 4 (2 – 5), metapodal 2 length 12, width 1, ventrianal shield 114 (100 – 118) long, 93 (92 – 93) wide at level of anterior corners and 77 (76 – 78) wide at level of anus, 4 poroids around the ventrianal shield, JV5 33 (30 – 35), spermatheca 17 long and 8 width, StIV 24 (23 – 25), macrosetae knobded, fixed digit of chelicerae 30 (28 – 31), mobile digit of chelicerae 31 (29 – 32), 2 denticles on fixed digit and 2 on mobile digit.