Taxonomic Position

Cohort Gamasina

    Subcorhort Dermanyssiae

  Superfamily Phytoseioidea

Family Phytoseiidae Berlese

Subfamily Phytoseiinae Berlese

Platyseiella Muma, 1961

 

Diagnostic characters:

• Phytoseiidae with all setae in the S-series and Z1 suppressed

• Seta s6 present, z3 absent; Z4-5 enlarged, barbed and with insertions contiguous

• Genu II with 7 setae; genu III with 6 setae.

 

 

Key to genera of Phytoseiinae:

 

1.  Seta z3 absent, s6 present ..... Platyseiella Muma

-    Seta z3 present, s6 present or absent ..... 2

 

2.  Seta z6 absent, s6 present; dorsal shield setae barbed, usually acicular, fine to thickened ..... Phytoseius

-    Seta z6 present, s6 absent; dorsal shield setae spatulate/ paddle-shaped ..... Chantia Pritchard & Baker

 

Key to species of Platyseiella

 

1.  27 pairs of idiosomal setae present, dorsal setae J2 and R1 absent; r3 on dorsal shield ..... 2

-    29 pairs of idiosomal setae present, including J2 and R1; r3 in soft cuticle ..... P. longicervicalis Moraes et al.

 

2.  Peritreme extending to level of setae j1; Florida ..... P. platypilis Chant

-    Peritreme shorter, extending only to level of j3; southern Africa ..... P. marikae Ueckermann

 

Similar taxa.  Species of Paraphytoseius (Amblyseiinae) strongly resemble Phytoseiinae but have serrate-chelate chelicerae and lack both setae z3 and s6.  Species of Phytoseius have seta z3.

 

Ecology & Distribution. One species of Platyseiella is know from each of three disparate regions: Thailand, Florida, and southern Africa.

  

References

Beard JJ & Walter DE.  1996.  Australian Mites of the genera Paraphytoseius  and Paraamblyseius (Acarina: Phytoseiidae).  Australian Journal of Entomology 35: 235-241.

Chant DA. & McMurtry JA. 1994.  A review of the subfamilies  Phytoseiinae and Typhlodrominae (Acari: Phytoseiidae).  International Journal of Acarology 20: 223-310.

Moraes GJ, Denmark HA, Berg H van den & Bellotti A.  1989.  Some phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from the Far East, with description of a new species.  International Journal of Acarology 15: 129-133.

Ueckermann EA.  1990.  A new species of the genus Platyseiella Muma, 1961 from south Africa (Acari: Phytoseiidae).  International Journal of Acarology 16: 17-21.