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Phytoseiidae

Phytoseiidae

Taxonomic placing: Acari, Parasitiformes, Mesostigmata.

Common name: Phytoseiid mites.

Geographical distribution: World-wide, with about 2,500 described species.

Economic importance: This family contains several important natural enemies of plant pests, especially spider mites (Tetranychidae), false spider mites (Tenuipalpidae), rust and gall mites (Eriophyidae), whiteflies and thrips (Thysanoptera). The Phytoseiidae are therefore very important in the biological control (whether natural or humanly-instigated) of such pests. Most species can easily be reared in large numbers in the laboratory and several are in international commerce (for instance, BioBee in Israel (at http://www.biobee.com/).

Morphology: Phytoseiids bear an entire dorsal plate with less than 23 pairs of setae. The stigmata open between legs III and IV and the metasternal plates are small. The legs are undifferentiated, usually with two claws and an empodium, and the digits of the male spermadactyls are distally free.

Life cycle: Phytoseiids, fast-moving, proactive predators, live on plants and in the upper soil layers. They mostly attack mites, but also small insects, nematodes and fungi, and may feed on plants, including pollen and extrafloral nectaries. Most species develop within a week at 27°C and 60-90% relative humidity and usually deposit 30-40 eggs per female. Sex determination in most phytoseiids is by parahaploidy (a few species are thelytokous) and the sex ratio in the field is around 0.75. The males locate females by a pheromone. Phytoseiids survive winters either by going into a facultative reproductive diapause (induced by a short daylight and low temperatures) or by being resistant to low temperatures. Phytoseiids disperse by running on leaves, walking along spider mite webs, crawling on the soil and while borne on air streams. Dispersal by winds is due to prey depletion; the mites (mostly young, mated females) moving onto exposed surfaces and placing themselves in a position to be lifted by air currents. Once on plants the predators are attracted to their prey by volatiles emitted by the pest-damaged foliage as well as to spider mite cues, such as the webbing and other residues.

Biological control-oriented studies on the Phytoseiidae began only at the close of the Second World War, when outbreaks of spider mites that followed the introduction of synthetic pesticides on commercial crops indicated the paramount importance of these predators. The ability of Phytoseiidae to develop resistance to pesticides contributed to their continuing use in biological control and integrated pest management (IPM) projects.

The diversity of feeding habits and life history traits of the Phytoseiidae indicated placing them in four very extended categories, a grouping that could be used when selecting these predators for specific biological control purposes. Type I consists only of Phytoseiulus persimilis and its cogeners, all specialized predators of heavily-webbing spider mites, mostly Tetranychus spp. Type II species feed on spider mites, but are not restricted to Tetranychus spp, devouring also spider mites that produce little webbing [e.g. the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi, as well as other small mites and pollen. Type III species are generalists that often prefer prey other than spider mites (e.g. tarsonemids and thrips. Type IV phytoseiids are generalists that develop and reproduce best on pollen, feeding also on plant juices.

Phytoseiidae included in this compendium

Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot.

Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski and Amitai).

Euseius scutalis (Athias-Henriot).

Iphiseius degenerans (Berlese).

Neoseiulus spp.

Typhlodromus athiasae Porath and Swirski.

Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot.

References

Abo-Shnaf, R.I.A. and De Moraes, G.J. 2014. Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Egypt, with new records, descriptions of new species, and a key to species. Zootaxa 3865: 1–71.

Alatawi, F.J., Kamran, F. and Basahih, J.S. 2017. The superfamily Phytoseioidea (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Saudi Arabia: a new species, new records and a key to the reported species. Acarologia 57: 275-294.

Allawi T.F. 1991. The phytoseiidae of Jordan, Acarina. Bollettino Della Societa Entomologica Italiana 123: 91-96.

Barbar, Z. 2013. Survey of phytoseiid mite species (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in citrus orchards in Lattakia governorate, Syria. Acarologia 53: 247-261.

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

Demite, P.R., McMurtry, J.A. and Moraes, G.J. de 2014 Phytoseiidae Database: a website for taxonomic and distributional information on phytoseiid mites (Acari). Zootaxa 3795: 571–577.

Demite, P.R., Moraes, G.J. de, McMurtry, J.A., Denmark, H.A. and Castilho, R.C. 2018. Phytoseiidae Database. Available from: www.lea.esalq.usp.br/phytoseiidae (accessed XX/XX/XXXX).

Döker, I., Kazak, C. and Karut, K. 2016. Contributions to the Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) fauna of Turkey: morphological variations, twelve new records, re-description of some species and a revised key to the Turkish species. Systematic and Applied Acarology 21: 505-527.

Gerson, U., Smiley, R.L. and Ochoa, R. 2003. Mites (Acari) for Pest Control. Blackwell Science.

Hoy, M.A., 2000. Transgenic arthropods for pest management: risks and realities. Experimental and Applied Acarology 24: 463-95.

Kostiainen, T.S. and Hoy, M.A. 1996. The Phytoseiidae as Biological Control Agents of Pest Mites and Insects: a Bibliography (1960-1994). University of Florida Publications, Monog. 17. Gainesville, Florida.

McMurtry, J.A., de Morae, G.J. and Sourassou, N.F. 2013. Revision of the lifestyles of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and implications for biological control strategies. Systematic and Applied Acarology 18: 297-320.

Sabelis, M.W and van Rijn, P.C.J. 1997. Predation by insects and mites. In: Thrips as Crop Pests (Ed. by T. Lewis), pp. 259-354. CABI, London.

Swirski, E. and Amitai, S. 1997. Annotated list of phytoseiid mites (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) in Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 31: 21-46.

Syromyatnikov, M.Y., Kokina, A.V., Belyaova, N.A., Kozlova, E.G. and Popov, V.N. 2018. A simple molecular method for rapid identification of commercially used Amblyseius and Neoseiulus species (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Zootaxa 4394: 270-278.

Swirski, E., Ragusa de Chiara, S. and Tsolakis, H. 1998. Keys to the phytoseiid mites (Parasitiformes, Phytoseiidae) of Israel. Phytophaga 8: 85-154.

Tixier, M.-S., Kreiter,S. and de Moraes,G.J. 2008. Biogeographic distribution of the phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata). Biological Journal of the Linnean Societ 93: 845-85.

Websites:

https://www.google.co.il/search?q=Phytoseiidae&biw=1280&bih=687&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwio8a_3u_vJAhUFhhoKHcV3BFkQsAQIKA

http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/phytoseiidae/key/Phytoseiidae/Media/Html/mites.htm