Female dorsal view

Other Names

Amblyseius limonicus Garman and McGregor, 1956
Amblyseius (Amblyseius) limonicus (Garman and McGregor)
Amblyseius (Typhlodromalus) limonicus (Garman and McGregor)
Typhlodromus (Amblyseius) limonicus (Garman and McGregor)
Typhlodromus limonicus (Garman and McGregor)

Synonyms

Suspected senior synonym of Typhlodromalus lailae (= Amblyseius lailae) (Schicha, 1979)
Typhlodromus garmani Chant, 1959 [replacement name for Amblyseiopsis limonicus]
Amblyseiopsis limonicus Garman, 1958 [rediscription of Amblyseius limonicus Garman & McGregor, 1956 from the same type material]
Typhlodromalus rapax (= Amblyseius rapax) (De Leon, 1965) [syn. Moraes et al., 1982]

Distribution

Central and South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua; North America: California, Georgia, North Carolina; also in French Guiana, Guyana, Hawaii, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Surinam, Trinidad, Cuba (Moraes et al., 2004); Australia (as T. lailae): NSW, Queensland, Western Australia (Schicha, 1987; Whitney and James, 1996; Steiner and Goodwin, 1998; Steiner et al., 2003); New Zealand: Nelson and Bay of Plenty (Collyer, 1982).

Notes

Collyer (1982) reports T. limonicus from kiwifruit, fruit trees, strawberry, and associated weeds, suggesting that it is an introduced species.

Recent DNA fingerprinting research at the National Centre for Greenhouse Horticulture, Gosford Horticultural Institute, Australia, demonstrated that T. limonicus and the widely distributed Australian species Typhlodromalus lailae are the same species (Dr. Stephen Goodwin, pers. comm., 2006). Schicha (1979; 1987) described T. lailae from NSW, Australia (type in ASCU, NSW Dept. of Agriculture), collected from pawpaw. T. lailae was subsequently collected in a number of locations in NSW, Western Australia, and Queensland, on a wide variety of plants including bitter melon (Momordica charantia), grass tree (Xanthorrhoea fulva), peach tree, tomato, corn, grapevine, avocado and cotton (Whitney and James, 1996; Steiner and Goodwin, 1998; see the full list of locations in Steiner et al., 2003).

References

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, Denmark, H.A., and Guerrero, J.M. (1982) Phytoseiid mites of Columbia (Acarina: Phytoseiidae). International Journal of Acarology 8: 15-22.

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. (1979) Three new species of Amblyseius Berlese (Acarina: Phytoseiidae) from Australia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 103: 217-226.

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

Steiner, M.Y., and Goodwin, S. (1998) Development and Marketing of an IPM Package for Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande). Phase II: Evaluating and Producing the Natural Enemies. HRDC/HSNA Report. NSW Agriculture, Gosford, New South Wales, Australia.

Steiner, M.Y., Goodwin, S., Wellham, T.M., Barchia, I.M., and Spohr, L.J. (2003) Biological studies of the Australian predatory mite Typhlodromalus lailae (Schicha) (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 42(2): 131-137.

Whitney, J., and James, D.G. (1996) The phytoseiid fauna of grapevines in Australia. International Journal of Acarology 22: 279-284.