Female dorsal view

Other Names

Typhlodromus messor Wainstein 1960
Amblyseius messor (Wainstein)
Amblyseius (Amblyseius) messor (Wainstein)
Amblyseius (Amblyseiulus) messor (Wainstein)
Proprioseiopsis (Amblyseiulus) messor (Wainstein)

Synonyms

Proprioseiopsis apheles (= Amblyseius apheles) (van der Merwe, 1968) [syn. Ueckermann & Loots, 1988]
Proprioseiopsis lindquisti (= Amblyseius lindquisti) (Schuster & Pritchard, 1963) [syn. Abbasova, 1972]

Distribution

Africa: Algeria, Morocco, South Africa; Middle East: Israel, Gaza Strip; Europe: Armenia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Ukraine; Central Asia: Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan (Moraes et al., 2004); Australia: ACT, NSW, South Australia, Tasmania (Schicha, 1983; 1987); New Zealand (Schicha, 1987).

Notes

Schicha (1987) reports P. messor from a variety of host plants in Australia, including grass, white clover, strawberry, apple, plum, and other introduced and native plants. Schicha (1987) re-examined some of New Zealand material, and concluded that the species reported by Collyer (1982) as Amblyseius mexicanus is probably P. messor. Collyer (1964; 1982) describes "Amblyseius mexicanus" from plum, apple, and pasture samples in Auckland and Nelson regions of New Zealand. I have examined both Collyer's "A. mexicanus" (NZAC) and Schicha's "P. messor" (ASCU, NSW Dept. of Agriculture), and can confirm that the two species are identical (M. Minor, unpublished data). I have not seen the type of P. messor.

References

Abbasova, E.D. (1972) Phytoseiid mites (Parasitiformes, Phytoseiidae) of Azerbaijan [in Russian]. Avtoreferat Dissertatsii na Soiskanie Uchenoy Stepeni Kandidata Biologicheskikh Nauk. Akademyia Nauk Azerbaydzhanskoy SSR, Institut Zoologii, Baku, Azerbaijan. 34 p.

Collyer, E. (1964) The occurrence of some mites of the Family Phytoseiidae in New Zealand, and descriptions of seven new species. Acarologia 6: 632-646.

Collyer, E. (1982) The Phytoseiidae of New Zealand (Acarina). 1. The genera Typhlodromus and Amblyseius - keys and new species. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 9: 185-206.

Moraes, G.J. de, McMurtry, J.A., Denmark, H.A., and Campos, C.B. (2004) A revised catalog of the mite family Phytoseiidae. Zootaxa 434: 1-494.

Schicha, E. (1983) New species, new records, and redescription of phytoseiid mites from Australia, Tahiti and the African Region (Acari: Phytoseiidae). International Journal of Entomology 25: 103-126.

Schicha, E. (1987) Phytoseiidae of Australia and Neighboring Areas. Indira Publishing House, Oak Park, Michigan, USA. 187 p.

Ueckermann, E.A., and Loots, G.C. (1988) The African species of the subgenera Anthoseius De Leon and Amblyseius Berlese (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Entomology Memoir, Deparment of Agriculture and Water Supply, Republic of South Africa, South Africa, vol. 73, p. 168 p.