Euseius gallicus Kreiter & Tixier, 2010

Kreiter, Serge & Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A., 2020, New records of phytoseiid mites from Mauritius Island (Acari: Mesostigmata, Acarologia 60 (3), pp. 520-545 : 534-535

Euseius gallicus Kreiter & Tixier

Euseius gallicus Kreiter and Tixier in Tixier et al. 2010: 242 .

This species was described from Southern France ( Tixier et al. 2010). It had also been recorded from Tunisia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey ( Kreiter et al. 2010; Döker et al. 2014) and recently from Slovenia ( Kreiter et al. 2020a).

Unlike most phytoseiid species, which are classified as generalist predators of small insects and mites (type III), Euseius species are pollen-feeding generalist predators (type IV) ( McMurtry and Croft 1997; McMurtry et al. 2013). Type III phytoseiids also feed on pollen, but prefer or show better performance on insect or mite prey. Type IV predatory mites have their highest reproductive capacity when feeding on pollen, and populations in the field often increase significantly when the crop or the surrounding vegetation is flowering ( McMurtry et al. 2013).

Recently, E. gallicus had shown potential as a biocontrol agent for thrips and whiteflies in roses when Typha sp. (cattail) pollen was supplied as an additional food source ( Biobest 2013; Wackers 2013). Provision of pollen as a supplementary food source can improve biological control of whiteflies and thrips by type III phytoseiids ( van Rijn and Sabelis 1993; Nomikou et al. 2010), and control works excellently in crops where pollen is naturally available ( Calvo et al. 2012). The populations of Euseius species can grow faster than the populations of type III phytoseiids when pollen is provided as a food source.

This is the first report of this species from Mauritius, but also the first mention from the Indian Ocean, very far from the European area where the species was originally described and recorded.

World distribution: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Tunisia, Turkey.

Specimens examined: a single ♀ collected in Mauritius during the survey. Mare aux Vacoas (aasl 572 m, lat. 20°21 ′ 40 ″ S, long. 57°29 ′ 59 ″ E), 1 ♀ on Tibouchina heteromalla Cogniaux (Melastomataceae) , 30/X/2018.

Remarks: morphological and morphometric characters and all measurements of our specimens fit well measurements in Tixier et al. (2010) and Döker et al. (2014).