Phytoseiid mites reported in the present paper were collected in different localities of Italy with the branch-shaking method (Tsolakis and Ragusa 1999). In the present paper we report nine new phytoseiid records from the Italian fauna, we describe a new species of Neoseiulus and redescribe two rare species, adding new information on them. At present, ninety-one valid phytoseiid species have been surveyed in Italy and 18 of them, were described as new species (Demite et al. 2004 Tsolakis and Ragusa 2015, 2017 Lorenzon et al. ![]() Afterwards, after a block of about 50 years, the studies on phytoseiid mites were resumed in a constant way starting from the 70s up to today (Ivancich-Gambaro 1975 Ragusa and Swirski 1976, 1978, 1982 Ragusa 1979, 1981 Ragusa and Paoletti 1985 Duso and Sbrissa 1990 Tsolakis and Ragusa Di Chiara 1993 Ragusa Di Chiara and Tsolakis 1996 Tsolakis and Ragusa 1999 Tsolakis et al. Studies on phytoseiid mites in Italy, started in the 19th century by Canestrini and Fanzago (1876) and Berlese (1887, 1889), and continued by the latter author and Ribaga up to the first two decades of 20th century (Ribaga 1904 Berlese 1923). As a matter of fact, it should be mentioned that the most common phytoseiids reared in insectaries world wide, i.e., Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans), Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor), Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot, are rare species in natural ecosystems. It is commonly accepted that periodic surveys of phytoseiid mites on cultivated and spontaneous plants, are important to discover some rare species that could become future biocontrol agents of phytophagous mites on agricultural crops. The use of indigenous phytoseiid species, to control infestations of both endemic and invasive mite and insect pests, still represents the lower environmental impact strategy in agricultural ecosystems, and this should be the main scope of specialists in this field. It should be mentioned that this number has significantly grown in the last two decades with the increasing number of studies on bio-ethology, food preferences and ecology of less known or rare species (Quilici et al. Many of them are considered important biocontrol agents of phytophagous mites and insects on crops, but despite more than a half century of intensive studies on this family and the great number of species described, only 20 species are presently reared in commercial insectaries (Knapp et al. ![]() 2018), and includes about 2,521 valid species (Demite et al. The family Phytoseiidae (Acari, Parasitiformes) being predatory, plays an important regulation role both in agricultural and natural ecosystems (McMurtry et al. ![]() Complementary descriptions of two rare species, namely: Typhlodromus ( Anthoseius) singularis and Typhlodromus ( Typhlodromus) knisleyi, were also added. In the present paper we report nine new records from the Italian fauna and describe the new species, Neoseiulus mediterraneus belonging to the subfamily Amblyseiinae. Eighteen of them were described as new species from materials collected in various Italian localities. The Italian phytoseiid fauna consists of 91 valid species.
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