Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) philippinensis Corpuz, 1966

K, Ismail Döker, KhaustovK, Vladimir A. & JoharchiK, Omid, 2022, First report of plant inhabiting predatory mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in Maldives, Acarologia 62 (4), pp. 865-878 : 871-874

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) philippinensis Corpuz

Typhlodromus philippinensis Corpuz, 1966: 731 .

( Figures 5–6)

Material examined — Two females collected from Maafushi Island, Maldives, 3°56′40.5″ N 73°29′35.2″ E, Terminalia catappa L. ( Combretaceae ) in 25 December 2021.

Measurements — Female (n = 2)– Dorsum ( Figures 5a, 6a). Dorsal setal pattern 12A:8A (r3 and R1 off shield). Dorsal shield smooth except some lateral reticulations or striations, with five pairs of solenostomes (gd2, gd4, gd6, gd8 and gd9), 14 pairs of visible poroids (id1, id2, id4, id5, idm2, idm3, idm4, idm5, idm6, idx, is1, idl1, idl3 and idl4). Length of dorsal shield 276–291, width at level of s4 160–170, width at level of S2 168–174. Dorsal setae smooth and stout, except Z5 with some barbs and large apical knob. Measurements as follows: j1 18–21, j3 20–23, j4 14, j5 14, j6 17–19, J2 21, J5 9–10, z2 12–16, z3 15–19, z4 19–20, z5 15, Z4 26–30,

Z5 40–43, s4 18 –21, s6 21 –23, S2 22 –25, S4 20 –22, S5 10 –12, r3 15 and R1 16–17. Peritremes long, extending to level of setae j1. Venter ( Figures 5b, 6b). Sternal shield smooth, posterior projection present, with three pairs of setae (st1, st2 and st3) and two pairs of pores (iv1 and iv2); distance between st1-st3 56–58, st2-st2 59–60; metasternal setae st4 and pair of pores (iv3) on soft integument; genital shield smooth, width at level st of 5 55. Ventrianal shield smooth, pentagonal with four pairs of pre-anal setae (JV1, JV2, JV3 and ZV2), one pair of paraanal (Pa) and one postanal seta (Pst) and with large crescentic preanal pores, distance between pores (gv3-gv3) 16–17. Length of ventrianal shield 86–94, width at level of setae ZV2 76–80. Setae ZV1, ZV3, JV4, JV5 and seven pairs of poroids on integument surrounding ventrianal shield. Setae JV5 smooth with large apical knob, longer than other ventral setae, 28–30 in length.

Chelicera ( Figures 5c, 6c). Fixed digit 24–25 long with five teeth and pilus dentilis; movable digit 24–25 long with three teeth.

Spermatheca ( Figures 5d, 6d). Calyx saccular, flaring distally 23–24 in length, atrium bulbous directly connected calyx without neck. Major duct broad, minor duct visible.

Legs ( Figures 5e, 6 e-f). Length of legs (excluding pretarsus): leg I 236–247; leg II 194–215; leg III 195–206; leg IV 250–265. Chaetotaxy as follows: Leg I; coxa 0 0/1 0/1 0, trochanter

1 1/1 0/2 1, femur 2 3/1 2/2 2, genu 2 2/1 2/1 2, tibia 2 2/1 2/1 2. Leg II; coxa 0 0/1 0/1 0, trochanter 1 0/1 0/2 1, femur 2 3/1 2/1 1, genu 2 2/0 2/0 1, tibia 1 2/1 1/1 1. Leg III; coxa 0

0/1 0/1 0, trochanter 1 1/1 0/2 0, femur 1 2/1 1/0 1, genu 1 2/1 2/0 1, tibia 1 1/1 2/1 1. Leg IV; coxa 0 0/1 0/0 0, trochanter 1 1/1 0/2 0, femur 1 2/1 1/0 1, genu 1 2/0 2/1 1, tibia 1 1/0 2/1 1. Leg III and IV with modified macrosetae all with large knob. SgeIII 13–15, StiIII 10, SgeIV 20–21, StiIV 10–11, StIV 20 in length. In addition to these setae, leg III and IV have one more modified seta on each segment all blunt-tipped or slightly knobbed.

World Distribution — Philippines ( Corpuz 1966) and Maldives (this study).

Remarks — Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) philippinensis was described by Corpuz (1966) based on the material collected from Asparagus plumosus (Asparagaceae) in Philippines. Morphological characters and measurements of the Maldivian material are identical to those of the original description and the redescription by Schicha and Corpuz-Raros (1992). However, the authors reported that metasternal plates are present in the Philippine material. We are unable to see and confirm the presence of such structures in our material even with high magnifications (1000X). Therefore, we consider presence/absence of metasternal plates maybe variable or it is somewhat challenging to observe them due to poorly sclerotized sternal area in the current material of this species. As reported by the same authors, on the other hand, T.

(A.) philippinensis shows a close affinity to T. (A.) fleschneri Chant, 1960 which was described from Karnataka, India. However, T. (A.) philippinensis can be separated from T. (A.) fleschneri by three teeth on movable digit of chelicera (two in the latter), by having normal peritreme (curved between setae j 1 in the latter). Moreover, macrosetae SgeIV and StIV are subequal in length in T. (A.) philippinensis , while StIV at least two times longer than SgeIV in T. (A.) fleschneri ( Chant 1960 ; Swirski and Amitai 1967).