Scapulaseius asiaticus (Evans) and S. reptans (Blommers) (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae): one or two species?

Abstract

We compare morphometric measurements and other characteristics of females and males of Scapulaseius asiaticus (Evans) and S. reptans (Blommers) collected in various countries and already published, with new morphometric measurements and character states of specimens of the type series of both species and additional materials. The aim is to establish definitively whether both species are synonyms or not, following the doubt on the taxonomic status of the former and the hypothesis formulated by both authors in previous papers concerning Mauritius phytoseiid fauna. Setal and shield measurements were similar between species and other morphological characters used before to separate both taxa, like the position of setae R1, showed a wide intraspecific variability. We conclude that the two forms are conspecific and, therefore, S. reptans is designated a junior synonym of S. asiaticus.

Phytoseiid mites of Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, China (Acari: Mesostigmata, Phytoseiidae)

“…Scapulaseius asiaticus, Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 67; Wu et al, 2010: 298, 2021. Scapulaseius reptans (Blommers) (synonymy according to Kreiter & Ferragut, 2021).…”