Aceria guerreronis Keifer, 1965

Navia, Denise, Gondim, Manoel G. C. & De, Gilberto J., 2007, Eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) associated with palm trees, Zootaxa 1389, pp. 1-30 : 10-12

Aceria guerreronis Keifer, 1965

Type host: Cocos nucifera L.

Type locality: Mexico (Guerrero)

Other host: Borassus flabellifer L. ( Ramaraju & Rabindra 2002); Lytocaryum weddellianum (H. Wendl.) Tol. ( Flechtmann 1989) ; Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glass. ( Ansaloni & Perring 2002)

Other locality: widely distributed in America and Africa; Asia ( India and Sri Lanka)

Plant part: under the bract of fruit; leaf; terminal shoot

Remarks: Aceria guerreronis , the coconut mite, is an invasive species that became a key pest of coconut ( Cocos nucifera L.) in the Americas, Africa and recently in Indo­Ocean countries. Infestations by A. guerreronis in coconut fruits cause physical damage to growing tissues, which become necrotic and suberized, resulting in uneven growth and premature drop ( Doreste 1968; Moore & Howard 1996). In Mexico, in the same year of its description, an infestation varying from 80 to 100% had been observed in several regions of the country, indicating that the mite had already been disseminated in that country ( Ortega et al. 1965). Collection records indicate that A. guerreronis was also already present in other regions from South­America even before its original description. Symptoms similar to that caused by coconut mite infestations were observed before 1965 in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil ( Robbs & Peracchi 1965; Doreste 1968; Zuluaga & Sánchez 1971). In Colombia, it was reported in 1948 the occurrence of a symptom named as "mancha de la nuez del cocotero" in several areas of the Atlantic coast ( Zuluaga & Sánchez 1971). This symptom had also been observed by Sánchez (1962) in Zuluaga & Sánchez (1971), who denominated it as "roña o escoriación de los frutos del cocotero". The causal agent of this symptom had not been determined until affected fruits were examined in detail and mites were found, identified as A. guerreronis .

In Brazil, Robbs & Peracchi (1965) reported A. guerreronis for the first time, infesting coconut in Santa Cruz, State of Rio de Janeiro, causing "russeting" and premature fruit drop. These authors mention that the same symptons had been observed before in State of Pernambuco. In Brazil, in addition to infesting fruits, A. guerreronis was also reported to cause the death of buds of young coconut plants ( Aquino & Arruda 1967, Aquino et al. 1968). However, this type of damage has not been seen since A. guerreronis was also reported infesting terminal shoots of Lytocaryum weddellianum (H. Wendl.) Tol. in the State of São Paulo, Brazil ( Flechtmann 1989).

In 1967, a significantly premature drop of coconut fruits was observed in the State of Zulia, Venezuela, caused by high infestations of A. guerreronis . This was the first report of the coconut mite in that country. Afterwards it was observed that the mite was already widely disseminated in all regions of the Maracaibo Lake, Northwest of Venezuela. According to the farmers the problem emerged in 1965/1966 with losses reaching 70% of fruits in that region ( Doreste 1968).

In the Caribbean region the presence of the coconut mite was first reported in Cuba during the early 1970’s, in the Baracoa region where the coconut production area is concentrated ( Estrada & Gonzalez 1975). The intensity of infestation was from 42 to 65% ( Suarez 1991). In Trinidad, the exact year of occurrence of the coconut mite is unknown, however it was around 1976 ( Griffith 1984). In Puerto Rico, coconut mite infestations were observed since 1977 ( Howard et al. 1990); in Saint Lucie since 1980 ( Moore et al. 1989); in Grenada and Saint Vincent before 1985 and in Republica Dominicana since 1984 ( Moore 1986). In Costa Rica the first report of A. guerreronis occurrence is from Schliesske (1988), who considered the species as endemic, because in the Atlantic coast, South of Province of Limon, 90% of coconut palms were infested and a high percentage of fruits were damaged.

In the USA, the presence of A. guerreronis was reported for the first time in Florida, in 1984 ( Howard et al. 1990). In 1997 infestations of A. guerreronis in young Queen palm plants, S. romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glass. were reported in San Diego, California, causing the death of terminal shoots ( Ansaloni & Perring 2002).

Almost simultaneously with its original description from Mexico and the reports in South American countries — Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela ­ the coconut mite was reported from Africa. It was found on the São Tomé and Principe Islands off the West coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea in 1966 ( Cabral & Carmona 1968). In continental Africa, A. guerreronis was reported for the first time in Benin, in 1967, and in less than two years the mite was found in all coconut producing areas in this country ( Mariau 1969, 1977). Then the coconut mite was found in neighbouring countries – Togo, Nigeria and Cameroon ( Mariau 1977; Julia & Mariau 1979). In Côte d´Ivoire ( Ivory Coast) it was first reported in 1975, in several Southeastern localities, causing a reduction of 7 to 15% in copra production ( Julia & Mariau 1979). Later damage by A. guerreronis was observed in Gambia, indicating that the mite is also present in all countries between Gambia and Togo ( Moore & Howard 1996).

In East Africa A. guerreronis was found in Tanzania in the early 1980´s and today is widely disseminated in the coconut production areas of this country as well as off the coast — Mafia, Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. During surveys conducted in affected areas from 1992 to 1996, the losses in coconut dry weight reached 20 to 30% and due to premature dropping were on average 21% ( Seguni 2000).

The most recent records of the coconut mite were in Asia, more specifically in India and Sri Lanka, where the species was unknown until the end of the 1990s ( Sathiamma et al. 1998; Fernando et al. 2002). In 1997 A. guerreronis infestations were observed in Sri Lanka. The mite pest was found in Kalpitiya, disseminating to neighbouring areas of about 15.000 acres. The incidence varied from 5 to 100% ( Fernando et al. 2002). In India, a high infestation was reported in 1998, in the District of Ernakulam, Central Kerala ( Sathiamma et al. 1998) and in 1999 surveys showed that the pest was already stablished in all State of Kerala and also in some areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andra Pradesh, in South India. Aceria guerreronis occurrence was also observed in the west islands of Lakshadweep — Minicoy, Kalpeni and Kavaratti ( Haq 1999) and in the east islands — Adamans and Nicobar ( Prasad & Raganath 2000). In West India, Orissa, the coconut mite was reported for the first time in 2000 ( Jagadiswari et al. 2001) and in East India, in Gujarat, in 2003 ( Desai et al. 2003). Aceria guerreronis has also been found infesting Palmyra palm, Borassus flabellifer L., in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and Sirugamani, India and Sri Lanka ( Ramaraju & Rabindra 2002; Subramanian 2002; Moraes & Fernando [Moraes, G.J.de. (Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz ( ESALQ), Universidade de São Paulo) & Fernando, L.C.P (Coconut Research Institute, Lunuwila, Sri Lanka) (in preparation)].