Neoseiulus bayviewensis (Schicha)

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 118-119

Neoseiulus bayviewensis (Schicha)

Amblyseius bayviewensis Schicha 1977 b: 394 ; Schicha 1987: 107.

Neoseiulus bayviewensis, Moraes et al. 1986: 72 ; Quilici et al. 1997: 285, 2000: 101; Beard 2001: 97; Kreiter et al. 2002: 348; Chant & McMurtry 2003: 21; Moraes et al. 2004: 107; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 25.

This species belongs to the cucumeris species group of Neoseiulus as dorsocentral setae are not as short relative to dorsolateral setae, and the ratio s4 / j6 is 1.3 to 3.5. The spermatheca is without a stalk between calyx and atrium, the atrium is differentiated, joined directly to calyx. The species belong to the cucumeris species subgroup ( Chant and McMurtry 2003a).

This species was only known from Australia for a long time ( Demite et al. 2019). Quilici et al. (1997, 2000) collected this species on Hibiscus sp., associated with populations of the eriophyid Aceria hibisci (Nalepa) , which is common in La Réunion. However, the biology of this predator remains unknown.

Collection data were provided in previous papers ( Quilici et al. 1997, 2000) but without measurements of specimens. Measurements of specimens collected during this study are provided in table 3.

Specimens examined: 2 ♀♀ in total, both measured. Bassin-Plat CIRAD Research Station (aasl 153 m, Long 55°29’18” E, Lat 21°19’25” S), 2 ♀♀ in the plot H (Herbicide), 4/4/2017 (see Material and methods).

Remarks: measurements of characters of La Réunion Island female specimens largely overlap with those of female specimens from Australia ( Table 3 ). Measurements of La Réunion specimens are in general just a few percent’s shorter, except for some setae or character dimensions which are quite shorter in La Réunion specimens, for example macrosetae of leg IV and size of ventral shields.