Amblyseius pascuus Van

Halliday, R. B., 2005, Predatory mites from crops and pastures in South Africa: potential natural enemies of redlegged earth mite Halotydeus destructor (Acari: Penthaleidae), Zootaxa 1079, pp. 11-64 : 51

Amblyseius pascuus Van der Merwe

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) pascuus Van der Merwe, 1968: 116.

Specimens examined: Site 94­1, 3 females; Site 94­3, 2 females; Site 94­4, 2 females; Site 94­11, 1 female; Site 94­31, 1 female.

Amblyseius pascuus is an endemic South African species that was described from soil covered with Eragrostis curvula at Potchefstroom (Van der Merwe, 1968). In the present survey it was found at scattered localities, but was always rare, with only 7 specimens in the entire survey. Phytoseiidae are predators that have been used successfully as biological control agents, but almost always in controlled situations such as glasshouses and orchards, and rarely in extensive pastures or crops ( McMurtry, 1983; Gerson & Smiley, 1990). An exception is the use of a complex of phytoseiid species to control the cassava green mite Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar) under field conditions in West Africa (reviewed by Gerson et al., 2003).