Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Fillâtre, Jacques & Azali, Hamza Abdou, 2018, First records of Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from one island of the Comoros Archipelago, Acarologia 58 (3), pp. 529-545 : 538

Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans)

Typhlodromus longispinosus Evans, 1952: 413 ; Evans, 1953: 465; Womersley, 1954: 177; Ehara, 1958: 55;

Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) longispinosus, Chant, 1959: 74 ;

Amblyseius longispinosus, Corpuz and Rimando, 1966: 129 ; Schicha, 1975: 103;

Neoseiulus longispinosus, Moraes et al., 1986: 85 ; 2000: 245; 2004: 129; Chant & McMurtry 2003a: 37; 2007: 29.

This species is distributed in many countries of the world, mainly in tropical areas, especially in Guadeloupe and other Islands of the French Antilles ( Moraes et al. 2000; Mailloux et al. 2010; Kreiter et al. 2013; Kreiter et al. in press).

Neoseiulus longispinosus , a type II phytoseiid predatory mite ( McMurtry et al. 2013), has received increasing attention in Asia for the control of spider mites since 2010 ( Nusartlert et al. 2011). It can develop on different tetranychid species of the genera Eutetranychus , Oligonychus , and Tetranychus ( Nusartlert et al. 2011) . Several studies demonstrated the potential of the predatory mite to control spider mite outbreaks including Oligonychus coffeae (Nietner) on tea ( Rahman et al. 2013), Stigmaeopsis nanjingensis (Ma & Yuan) on bamboo in China ( Zhang et al. 1999) or Eotetranychus cendanai Rimando in greenhouse crops ( Thongtab et al. 2001). In addition, N. longispinosus was also found to have a great potential for practical applications due to its resistance or tolerance to agricultural chemicals ( Zhang et al. 1996).

Thus, the biology of this species has been studied mostly for pest control purposes including side effects of miticides ( Bin Ibrahim and Tan 2000). The activity, feeding, development, predation, cannibalism, intra-guild predation and behaviour have been extensively studied by several authors ( Croft et al. 1999a, b; Schausberger and Croft 1999a, b; 2000a, b; Blackwood et al. 2001). It was found very rarely in Mascareignes area except in a study on companion plants in citrus orchards in La Réunion (Le Bellec, unpublished data). This species seems to be more common on grasses of the lower vegetation, especially Fabaceae with populations of tetranychid mites. However, the recent results of Huyen et al. (2017) show that at least in controlled laboratory conditions the predatory mite N. longispinosus is a potential biological control agent against the citrus red spider mite P. citri .

Previous Records — Australia, China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan), Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Egypt, Hawaii, Hong-Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Les Saintes, Malaysia, Marie-Galante, Martinique, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, USA (Florida), Vietnam.

Specimens examined — Moroni, Adoudja (long. 11°41′S, lat. 43°15′E, alt. 100 m), 1 ♀ on Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R. Br. ( Lamiaceae ), 2-02-2017.

Remarks ( Table 5) — Measurements of the single female collected show that most of the setae lengths are 7 to 15 % longer, except j6, J2, J5, and Z4. All ventral, spermathecal and cheliceral dimensions agree well except ventrianal shield length and width at the level of anus and JV5 which are longer.