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Fig. 1. Oligonychus mangiferus adult female (non-type) - dorsal habitus.

Fig. 2. Oligonychus mangiferus adult female (non-type) - detail of empodium and tarsus III (note six (pairs) proximoventral hairs).

Fig. 3. Oligonychus mangiferus adult female (non-type) - detail of pattern of pregenital striae.

Fig. 4. Oligonychus mangiferus adult female (non-type) - detail of lobes on dorsal striae.

Fig. 5. Oligonychus mangiferus adult female (non-type) - detail of peritreme (arrow indicates tip).

Fig. 6.  Oligonychus mangiferus adult female (non-type) - detail of tarsus I (indicating three proximal tactile setae, and one solenidion (s)).

Fig. 7. Oligonychus mangiferus adult male (non-type) - detail of empodium and tarsus III.

Fig. 8. Oligonychus mangiferus adult male (non-type) - detail of tarsus I (indicating number of proximal setae).

Fig. 9. Oligonychus mangiferus adult male (non-type) - detail of aedeagus.

Material examined

non-types

Taxonomy

Subfamily Tetranychinae

Tribe Tetranychini

Distribution

+Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, El Salvador, Hawaii, India, Israel, Mauritius, Mozambique, *Pakistan, Peru, Reunion, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Yemen

The original record of this species in Australia was provided by Davis (1968f).  In this report, Davis has the specimens listed with the questionable identification of O. mangiferus .

Taxonomy Changes

Paratetranychus mangiferus Rahman & Sapra 1940

Oligonychus mangiferus (Rahman & Sapra) Pritchard & Baker 1955

Paratetranychus insularis McGregor 1950, synonymy Pritchard & Baker 1955

Paratetranychus terminalis Sayed 1946

Oligonychus terminalis (Sayed) Pritchard & Baker 1955, synonymy Zaher et al. 1984

Diagnosis

Female (Fig. 1)

• empodia I-IV stout strongly curved claw, as long as proximoventral hairs (six pairs present); Australian material varies in length (Fig. 2) 
• pregenital striae longitudinal (Fig. 3)
• spinneret of palp about as long as wide
• lobes on dorsal striae small, closely spaced (Fig. 4)
• lobes on ventral striae small, closely spaced
• peritreme ending in slightly expanded simple bulb (Fig. 5)
• most dorsal striae transverse, except irregular longitudinal and oblique between opisthosomal setae f1 and f2
• dorsal setae f1 longer than f2
• leg chaetotaxy varies in the literature, for example:
  • tarsus I with the sockets of three/four tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to the socket of the proximal duplex seta (Baker & Pritchard 1960; Meyer 1987; Pritchard & Baker 1955; Tseng 1994) (Fig. 6) 
  • tarsus I with the sockets of six tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to socket of the proximal duplex seta (Gupta & Gupta (1994)
  • tarsus II with the sockets of three/four tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to the socket of the duplex seta
  • tibiae I-IV 6(1+0), 5, 5, 5
  • tibiae I-II 7(1+0), 5 (Tseng 1994)
  • tibiae I-II 8(1+0), 5 (P&B 1955)

Male

• empodia I-IV as in female (Fig. 7) 
• peritreme ending in simple bulb with little or no expansion
• spinneret of palp tiny
• leg chaetotaxy varies in the literature, for example:
  • tarsus I with sockets of three/four tactile setae and two solenidia proximal to the socket of the proximal duplex seta (P&B 1955; Tseng 1994) (Fig. 8)
  • tarsus I with the sockets of five tactile setae proximal to the socket of the proximal duplex seta
  • tarsus II with the sockets of three tactile and one solenidion proximal to the socket of the duplex seta (P&B 1955)
  • tibiae I-II 11(4+0), 7
  • tibiae I-II 10(4+0), 5 (Tseng 1994)
  • tibiae I-II 11(4+0), 5 (P&B 1955)
• aedeagus ventrally directed, no anterior or posterior projection; dorsal margin of shaft at approx 30° angle, curving downwards/ventrally and anteriorly to form a rounded posterior margin, and an acute (to almost right-angle) ventral angle; ventrally directed projection is short, abruptly tapered, with short narrow truncate finger-like tip (Fig. 9)
• P&B (1955) describe aedeagus as: aedeagus with bent portion small, triangularly tapering, at acute angle to shaft 

Hosts

> 40 including: Annona diversifolia, A. squamosa (Annonaceae), Bauhinia acuminata (Caesalpinaceae), Calophyllum inophyllum (Guttiferaceae), Cassia fistula (Caesalpinaceae), Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eugenia jambolana (Myrtaceae), Euphorbia longana (Euphorbiaceae), Ficus carica (Moraceae), Gossypium sp. (Malvaceae), Lagerstroemia indica, L. thorelli (Lythraceae), Litchi chinensis (Sapindaceae), Litsea laurifolia (Lauraceae), *Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae), Musa sapientum (Musaceae), Persea americana (Lauraceae), Plumeria acutifolia (Apocynaceae), Prunus persica (Rosaceae), Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae), Rosa gallica  (Rosaceae), Syzygium cumini, S. jambos, S. samarangense (Myrtaceae), Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae), Trichilia emetica (Meliaceae), Vitis vinifera (Vitaceae)

Similar Taxa

Species recorded in Australia:

• Oligonychus coffeae (Nietner, 1861)
• Oligonychus ilicis (McGregor, 1917)
• Oligonychus punicae (Hirst, 1926)
• Oligonychus ununguis (Jacobi, 1905)

Species not yet recorded in Australia:

• Oligonychus vitis Zaher & Shehata

Biology

This mite feeds mostly on the upper surfaces of the leaves of its hosts.  Infestations reach a peak during late summer.

This is an important pest of mango and grape vines, and an occasional pest on litchi, in India.  The infested part become yellow on mango, brownish on litchi, with the peak infestation occuring during October-December.

Heavy feeding on mango causes a drying of the leaves followed by premature leaf drop.

Oligonychus mangiferus is recorded as the second most important pest of pomegranate in Egypt.

References

 +Davis, J.J. (1968f)  Survey of Tetranychidae.  Item 12 Qld. Dept. Agric.

McGregor, E.A. (1950)  Mites of the family Tetranychidae.  American Midland Naturalist 44: 257-420

Migeon, A. and Dorkeld, F. (2006-2017) Spider Mites Web: a comprehensive database for the Tetranychidae. http://www.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/spmweb

Pritchard, A.E. and Baker, E.W. (1955)  A revision of the spider mite family Tetranychidae.  Pacific Coast Entomology Society Memoirs 2: 1-472

*Rahman, K.A. and Sapra, A.N. (1940)  Mites of the family Tetranychidae from Lyallpur with descriptions of four new species.  Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science, Ser. B 11: 177-196

Sayed, M.T. (1946)  Contribution to the knowledge of Acarina of Egypt. V. Five new species of Tetranychidae.  Bull. Soc. Fouad., Ier Entomol. 30: 79-97

Zaher, M.A., Soliman, A.R., Hanna, M.A. and Abou Awas, B.B. (1984)  Phytophagous mites in Egypt (Nile Valley and Delta). Survey and ecological studies on phytophagous, predacious and soil mites in Egypt.  P. 480 Prog. U.S.A. proj. EG-ARS 30: 1-181

Notes

See Notes for O. punicae for a discussion on this species-group.