Mixonychus acaciae Ryke and Meyer, 1960

Toroitich, Faith J., Ueckermann, Edward A., Theron, Pieter D. & Knapp, Markus, 2009, The tetranychid mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) of Kenya and a redescription of the species Peltanobia erasmusi Meyer (Acari: Tetranychidae) based on males, Zootaxa 2176, pp. 33-47 : 41

Mixonychus acaciae Ryke and Meyer, 1960

Distinctive of this species are female dorsal opisthosomal setae which are set on tubercles, spiculate, do not taper, shorter than distances to next row of setae. Fourth pair of dorsocentrals (f1) nearer to each other than members of other three pairs of dorsocentrals.

Leg chaetotaxy as follows: tarsi 10(2)-9(1)-7-7; tibiae 9-5-5-5; genua 5-5-3-3; femora 7-6-3-2; coxae 2-2- 1-1.

Specimens examined: nine females collected from Acacia nilotica (Fabaceae) from Machakos district (S01º25.137’; E037º00.953’) and two females on Acacia sp. from Baringo district (N00°30.590'; E035°38.766’).

Remarks: This species has previously been reported in the Southern Africa region only. It was first described on Acacia karoo from South Africa ( Ryke and Meyer, 1960) and has subsequently been collected on several species of Acacia . Although it is known to occur on hosts from other plants families, it seems to exhibit preference for the family Fabaceae . It is however found in small numbers and thus do not seem to cause any serious threat to the thorn trees. They are reddish brown in colour.