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Figure 1.  Oligonychus brevipodus (sensu Gutierrez & Schicha 1983) - detail of aedeagus, with O. ununguis and O. coffeae for comparison (all redrawn from Gutierrez & Schicha 1983; no scale provided).

Material examined

specimens not examined

Taxonomy

Subfamily Tetranychinae

Tribe Tetranychini

Distribution

+Australia, France, *Italy, New Zealand

Taxonomy Changes

Heteronychus brevipodus Targioni Tozzetti 1878

Oligonychus brevipodus (Targioni Tozzetti) Berlese 1886

Diagnosis

Female (based on Miller 1966)

• empodia I-IV strong curved claw, as long as proximoventral hairs
• lobes rounded
• dorsal setae long, at least twice as long as distance to next seta
• dorsal striae mostly transverse, except longitudinal between setae e1-e1
• stylophore slightly emarginate anteriorly 
• peritreme ending in simple bulb
• spinneret of palp stout, twice as long as wide
• tarsus I with the sockets of three tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to the socket of the proximal duplex seta
• tarsus II with sockets of two tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to the socket of the duplex setae, and with two tactile setae adjacent to the duplex seta
• tibiae I-II 8(1+0), 5
• yellow with black markings

Male

• empodia I-IV as in female
• peritreme
• spinneret of palp tiny
• tarsus I with the sockets of three tactile setae and two solenidia proximal to the socket of the proximal duplex seta AND one solenidion adjacent to the proximal duplex seta
• tarsus II with three tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to the socket of the duplex seta AND two tactile setae adjacent to the duplex seta
• tibiae I-II 9(2+0), 5
• aedeagus ventrally directed, shaft bent at slightly obtuse angle to shaft (ventral margin bent at approx. 100° angle); ventral projection tapering to truncate tip; tapered portion relatively short (Fig. 1)

Hosts

Quercus ilex, Q. pubescens, *Quercus sp. (Fagaceae)

Biology

Restricted to species of oak, Quercus spp. (Fagaceae).  Adults females are greenish yellow with dark spots on either side of the opisthosoma (Gutierrez & Schicha 1983).

References

Berlese, A. (1886) Acari dannosi alle piante coltivati.  Padova 31pp. 

Gutierrez, J. and Schicha, E. (1983)  The spider mite family Tetranychidae (Acari) in New South Wales.  International Journal of Acarology 9: 99-116

+Miller, L.W. (1966)  The tetranychoid mites of Tasmania.  Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 100: 53-76

*Targioni Tozzetti, A. (1878) Relazione interno ai lavori della Stazione di entomologia agraria di Firenze per l'anno 1876.  Acaridei.  Ann. Agri. 1: 242-275

Notes

The exact diagnosis of Oligonychus brevipodus has not been formally elucidated.  Targioni Tozzetti's original 1878 description was based on a nymph, as was the description provided by Berlese in 1886.  Targioni Tozzetti claims the empodia are claw-like and both authors indicate the presence of proximoventral hairs.  Hirst (1920) mentions the possibility that O. brevipodus and Tetranychus virescens Berlese (this taxon does not exist and may be a manuscript name that was never published) are the same species.

Miller (1966) describes material collected from oak, Quercus sp. from Tasmania.  He claims the palps and aedeagus of the male and the palp of the female match those figured by Hirst (1920) as O. quercinus Berlese from oaks in England, and Miller also examined females collected by Hirst from oak in England.  Pritchard & Baker (1955) however, synonymised O. quercinus Berlese with Eotetranychus aurantii (Targioni Tozzetti), and at the same time considered that Hirst's O. quercinus was actually a misidentification of O. brevipodus.  Further complicating the issue, Wainstein (1960) recorded and illustrated O. brevipodus from Kazakhstan, listing O. quercinus Berlese as a synonym of O. brevipodus; however according to Miller (1966) the illustrations provided by Wainstein do not match the O. quercinus material Miller examined from England.  So if the diagnosis provided by Wainstein is the true brevipodus, then Hirst's material is another species altogether.

Gutierrez and Schicha (1983) examined material identified as O. brevipodus from New South Wales (on Quercus sp.), stating that their specimens match O. quercinus Berlese from England (Hirst's material), and also match the description offered by Miller (1966) and the material from New Zealand and The Netherlands. 

The diagnosis provided here is based on that of Miller (1966).