Transeius aciculus, , Chant & McMurtry, 2004

Kreiter, Serge, Zriki, Ghais, Ryckewaert, Philippe, Pancarte, Clovel, Douin, Martial & Tixier, Marie-Stéphane, 2018, Phytoseiid mites of Martinique, with redescription of four species and new records (Acari: Mesostigmata), Acarologia 58 (2), pp. 366-407 : 369

Transeius aciculus (De Leon)

Typhlodromips aciculus De Leon, 1967: 28 ; Moraes et al., 1986: 135; Moraes et al., 2004b: 205. Amblyseius aciculus, Moraes et al., 1991: 122 ; Transeius aciculus, Chant & McMurtry, 2004: 185 ; Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 71.

This species was described as a Typhlodromips and mentioned in this genus by Moraes et al. (2000) from various islands of French West Indies but not from Martinique. This species was then mentioned as a Transeius ( Kreiter et al. 2006) but still from Guadeloupe. Only few specimens of T. aciculus were recorded during previous surveys. This is the first record T of.

aciculus from Martinique and the first survey with a lot of specimens collected. It is found in the low vegetation, grasses, especially on companion plants in citrus orchards ( Dubois, 2009;

Mailloux et al. 2010). Species of the genus Transeius are considered as type III (generalist predators) by McMurtry et al. (2013) but the biology of that species remains totally unknown.

The description of De Leon (1967) includes minute drawings, a poor description and is difficult to use for an accurate identification. There are no re-description with new details and new drawings for that species. We re-describe here Transeius aciculus (De Leon) with new measurements, new details on shapes of characters and new drawings.