Iphiseius degenerans (Berlese)

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 : 535

Iphiseius degenerans (Berlese)

Seius degenerans ( Berlese, 1889) : 9;

Amblyseius (Iphiseius) degenerans, Muma, 1961: 288 ;

Typhlodromus degenerans, Hirschmann, 1962: 2 ;

Iphiseius (Iphiseius) degenerans, Pritchard & Baker 1962: 299 ;

Amblyseius degenerans, Zaher, 1986: 99 ; Northcraft, 1987: 521; Papadoulis & Emmanouel, 1991: 36;

Iphiseius degenerans, Berlese, 1921: 95 ; Evans, 1954: 518; Moraes et al., 1986: 61; 2004: 92; Chant & McMurtry, 2005 b: 215; 2007: 125;

Iphiseius martigellus El-Badry, 1968: 325 (synonymy according to Chant & McMurtry, 2005; El-Banhawy & Knapp, 2011).

The biological characteristics of this Ethiopian species have been well documented because of its use in controlling thrips on various cultivated plants in greenhouses. Iphiseius degenerans is a commercially available biological control agent of thrips and spider mites in greenhouse crops. It is able to feed on a variety of foods, but thrips’ larvae and sweet pepper pollen are unfavourable food for immature development. This could compromise the establishment of this biological control agent when used against thrips in sweet pepper crops. According to the classification by McMurtry et al. (2013), I. degenerans is a type-III generalist predator. It is one of the most common native phytoseiid mite species on cassava in southern Africa ( Zannou et al. 2005) and feeds on Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar) ( Nwilene and Nachman 1996) , a widely distributed neotropical mite pest of cassava in Africa, insect larvae and pollen of many plants ( Vantornhout et al. 2005).

Another study concluded that I. degenerans can be considered a suitable biological control candidate based on its preference for Eutetranychus orientalis nec (Klein) in the Mediterranean region ( Fantinou et al. 2012).

Iphiseius degenerans preys on Oligonychus perseae Tuttle, Baker & Abbatiello outside the webbed nests. Although I. degenerans contribution to O. perseae biocontrol can be limited, it needs to be assessed, also taking into account the importance of alternative food source (e.g. Castor oil pollen) for predator population growth ( Zappala et al. 2015).

Specimens examined — Mdé, INRAPE (long. 11°41′S, lat. 43°14′E, alt. 50 m), 7 ♀♀ + 4 ♂♂ on Ricinus communis L. ( Euphorbiaceae ), 2-02-2017.

Previous record — Numerous countries in Northern and Southern Africa ( Demite et al. 2017), in Mediterranean area ( Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal), in Near East or Middle East ( Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen), in Europe ( Georgia), in South America ( Brazil) and in North America ( USA in California, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire).

Remarks ( Tables 3 and 4) — Measurements of the 7 ♀♀ + 4 ♂♂ fit well with measurements of specimens reported in the literature for closest countries, except width of the ventral and the anal shields of the female and JV5 which is more than 40 % longer.