Bryobia praetiosa Koch, 1836

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 : 34

Bryobia praetiosa Koch, 1836

Tarsus I very long, more than twice as long as other tarsi. It has five pairs of genitoanal setae and one pair of pregenital setae. Tarsus I with two pairs of duplex setae and tarsus II has one pair. The peritreme ends in a protruding sausage-like structure (anastomosis). Body measurements are as follows: Body length: 550µm, width 350µm. Leg I is 590µm long and leg II is 240µm long.

Leg chaetotaxy as follows: genua 8-6-6-5; femora 21-11-5 -(4/3); coxae 2-1-1-1.

Solenidia on tarsus III and IV associated with tactile setae to form duplex setae. Leg I slightly longer than total body length.

Specimens examined: Four females collected on Chloris gayana (Poaceae) in Ngarenyiro, Laikipia district (N00°04.971'; E036°55.956') and 3 larvae collected on Sida schimperiana (Malvaceae) from Kitengela, Kajiado district (S01°32.319'; E036°56.497').

Remarks: This species has a world-wide distribution and occurs on a wide range of low lying host plants belonging to a wide range of families ( Migeon and Dorkeld, 2006). Previous records of this species on members of the family Poaceae which include wheat, rye and barley were reported in Arizona ( Tuttle and Baker, 1964). In this study, the specimens were collected in savanna grasslands. The species is dark red in colour