Typhlodromips culmulus (van der Merwe)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 138

Typhlodromips culmulus (van der Merwe)

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) culmulus van der Merwe 1968: 132 ; Ueckermann & Loots 1988:

157.

Typhlodromips culmulus, Moraes et al. 1986: 139 ; 2004a: 210; Chant & McMurtry 2005c:

327; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 61.

This species belongs to the culmulus species group as the spermatheca has a calyx shallow dish-shaped. This species group contains only 10 species ( Chant and McMurtry 2005c).

Typhlodromips culmulus is mentioned from western and southern Africa ( Demite et al. 2019). It was found recently in Mauritius ( Kreiter et al. 2018a). Species of this quite large genus are supposed to all belong to the type III ( McMurtry and Croft 1997; McMurtry et al. 2013), i.e. a polyphagous generalist predator. However, the biology of T. culmulus remains totally unknown. This is the first mention of this species from La Réunion Island.

Specimens examined: 105 ♀♀ + 18 ♂♂ + 6 im., 10 ♀♀ + 3 ♂♂ measured. Petite Île – Piton Bloc, Yébo Luguy farm (aasl 973 m, Long 55°34’64” E, Lat 21°18’64” S), 1 ♀ on I. obscura , 28/4/2016 ; 6 ♀♀ + 1 im. on P. lanceolata , 2 ♀♀ on R. raphanistrum , 1 ♀ on I. obscura , 18/10/2016; Le Tampon – Grand Tampon, Janick Bénard farm (aasl 861 m, Long 55°32’90” E, Lat 21°12’80” S), 1 ♀ on Begonia cucullata , 7/1/2016 ; 4 ♀♀ + 2 ♂♂ + 1 im. on R. raphanistrum , 1 ♀ on B. pilosa , 24/5/2016; 8 ♀♀ + 1 im. on R. raphanistrum , 2 ♀♀ on B. pilosa , 20/9/2016; Saint-Pierre – Bassin Martin, Armefhor Station (aasl 450 m, Long 55°31’9” E, Lat 21°18’14” S), 18 ♀♀ + 2 ♂♂ + 1 im. on various weeds and 62 ♀♀ + 13 ♂♂ + 2 im. on C. rotundus , 3/8/2017 ; Saint-Pierre – Bassin-Plat CIRAD Research Station (aasl 153 m, Long 55°29’18” E, Lat 21°19’25” S), 1 ♀ in plot BM, 23/8/2016 ; 1 ♀ on A. viridis , 20/6/2017.

Remarks: measurements of morphological characters of T. culmulus female and male specimens from La Réunion ( Table 14) are very close from measurements for specimens from neighbouring countries, especially for specimens from Kenya and Mauritius and except for specimens from South Africa which are larger in van der Merwe (1968) but very close for the measurements of type material provided by Moraes et al. (2007).