Amblyseius erici Kreiter, 2021

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Abo-Shnaf, Reham & Douin, Martial, 2021, New Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) of Mascareignes and Comoros Archipelagos (Indian Ocean): one new record, three new species groups and description of six new species and of six unknown males, Acarologia 61 (4), pp. 845-889 : 852

Amblyseius erici Kreiter n. sp.

Zoobank: F011832D-AFE5-45B2-BA60-BB9DA7EA6A20 Classification. Amblyseius erici Kreiter n. sp. belongs to:

• the subfamily Amblyseiinae (absence of dorsolateral setae z3 and s6 and the caudoventral setae JV3),

• to the tribe Amblyseiini (setae j3, s4, Z4 and Z5 longer than other setae, ratio s4 / Z1> 3.1, many teeth on the fixed cheliceral digit and macrosetae on legs I, II and/or III in addition to macrosetae on leg IV),

• to the subtribe Amblyseiina (sternal shield as long as wide, ventrianal shield longer than wide, seta J2 present, genital shield almost as wide as ventrianal shield, ventral shields generally smooth, macrosetae on all legs, setae j5, J2, S2, S4, S5 and Z1 present),

• to the genus Amblyseius (ratio s4 / S2> 3.0, chelicerae of normal size with fixed digit of the same size as movable digit, seta JV2 present, without incision in lateral margin of dorsal shield at level of s4, ventrianal shield not reduced to a simple anal shield, Ge III and Ti III each generally with a macroseta) ( Chant and McMurtry 2007),

• to the species group obtusus as setae J2 and Z1 are present, dorso-central setae and setae z2, z4, Z1, S2, S4, and S5 are minute, setae s4, Z4 and Z5 are prominent, elongate and whip-like, female ventrianal shield usually pentagonal, as wide at level of anus than at level of ZV2 or wider at this later level ( Chant and McMurtry 2004),

• to the large species subgroup andersoni with the calyx bell- to glass-shaped. This subgroup contains 120 species (in Chant and McMurtry 2004). Many of those species are very different from the new species and we compare it thereafter with closer related species.