Amblyseius Berlese, 1914

El-Banhawy, E. M. & Knapp, M., 2011, Mites of the family Phytoseiidae Berlese from Kenya (Acari: Mesostigmata) 2945, Zootaxa 2945 (1), pp. 1-176 : 24

Genus Amblyseius Berlese

Amblyseius Berlese, 1914: 143 .

Amblyseiopsis Garman, 1948: 16 . Type species: Amblyseiopsis americanus Garman, 1948 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseiu s) Muma, 1961: 287.

Amblyseius (Amblysealus) Muma, 1961: 287 . Type species: Amblyseiopsis largoensis Muma, 1955 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) section Italoseius Wainstein, 1962a: 15. Type species: Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) italicus Chant, 1959 .

Proproseiopsis ( Peloiseius ) Karg, 1983: 303. Type species: Amblyseiulus dorsatus Muma, 1961 .

Amblyseius (Multiseius) Denmark & Muma, 1989: 82 . Type species: Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) andersoni Chant, 1957 .

Amblyseius (Pauciseius) Denmark & Muma, 1989: 132 . Type Species: Amblyseius meridionalis Berlese, 1914 .

Type species: Zercon obtusus Koch, 1839 , sensu Karg, 1960.

Diagnosis. setae z2, z4, Z1 (when present), S2, S4, S5 and dorsocentral setae short/minute, approximately subequal; idiosoma lightly sclerotised (is “rarely” brownish in color; dorsal shield usually smooth; ventral shields usually smooth; female ventri-anal shield not extremely wide, of a variety of shapes, usually pentagonal, but vaseshaped or divided into separate ventral and anal shields in the largoensis species groups, and reduced in a few species so that there are fewer than three pairs of pre-anal setae. Chelicerae of normal size, fixed digit usually with many teeth; legs II, III, and often I, in addition to leg IV, with macrosetae, setae s4, Z4, Z5 clearly longer, spermatheca variable in shape; males usually with three pairs of pre-anal setae arranged in a triangular pattern.

Chant & McMurtry (2004) proposed five species groups to accommodate the species in the genus Amblyseius e.g. pusillus Chant & McMurtry (seta J2 absent), sundi Denmark & Muma (seta Z1 absent), americanus Denmark & Muma (seta z4 at least as long as 2/3 distance between its base and that of seta s4), largoensis McMurtry & Moraes (female ventri-anal shield vase-shaped or divided into separate ventral and anal shields), and obtusus Chant (ventri-anal shield not vase shaped, not divided, not wider at level of anus than at level of setae ZV2) ( Chant & McMurtry, 2004).