Amblyseius haleakalus Prasad, 1516

Kreiter, Serge & Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A., 2020, New records of phytoseiid mites from Mauritius Island (Acari: Mesostigmata, Acarologia 60 (3), pp. 520-545 : 526-529

Amblyseius haleakalus Prasad

Amblyseius haleakalus Prasad 1968: 1516 ; Moraes et al. 1986: 14, 2004: 27; Denmark & Muma 1989: 97; Chant & McMurtry 2004: 199, 2007: 78; Denmark & Evans 2011: 75.

This species belongs to the obtusus species group as seta z4 is minute and female ventral shield is not vase-shaped or divided. It belongs to andersoni the species subgroup as the spermatheca has a differentiated atrium, a calyx not dotted or annulated, not swollen basally and calyx dish-, cup-, bell- or V-shaped. The biology is totally unknown.

World distribution: Hawaii.

Specimens examined: 8 ♀♀ and 1 ♂ in total. Curepipe, Anderson street (aasl 560 m, lat. 20°19 ′ 11 ″ S, long. 57°31 ′ 52 ″ E), 8 ♀♀ and 1 ♂ on Araucaria columnaris (Forster) Hook (Araucariaceae) , 4/XI/2018.

Remarks: this is the first mention of this species from Indian Ocean and in an area outside the land from which the species was described, Hawaii. The measurements of specimens collected in Mauritius Island ( Table 3 ) are very close to those obtained from specimens of Hawaii by Prasad (1968) in the original description and by Denmark and Muma (1989) in the only available redescription of the type material, except for general slightly shorter dimensions of characters and especially of setae j3 and s4 and of the macroseta StIV and lower number of teeth in both movable and fixed digits of the chelicera.

The male of A. haleakalus is unknown and the description of the single male specimen collected will be provided in another article (Kreiter and Abo-Shnaf, in progress).