Updated and annotated review of Tetranychidae occurring in mainland Portugal, the Azores, and Madeira Archipelagos

Abstract

Data on the diversity, distribution, and main hosts of spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) are scarce in the Iberian Peninsula, particularly for Portugal, where only 21 species are recorded on the mainland and in the Azores and Madeira archipelagos. Moreover, the scientific information is mainly available in national publications, and difficult to access for international researchers. In this paper, we review the literature dealing with spider mites in mainland Portugal and the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, compiling and synthesizing the most relevant information on their distribution, hosts and pest potential. Further information was obtained by verifying slides in the acarological collection of the Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV), the most important national collection, and by verifying mites collected on different plant hosts during the period 2018-2020. In total, we found records for 28 spider mite species in Portugal, comprising nine Bryobiinae and 19 Tetranychinae, and including new national records for Stigmaeopsis nanjingensis and Eotetranychus tiliarium. Additionally, we record a new exotic mite species for the mainland, Eotetranychus lewisi, which was found in two localities in the Algarve District on leaves of Euphorbia pulcherrima. This is the first record for continental Europe of an established population in outdoor conditions of this regulated quarantine pest. We also comment on the presence of seven species not reported by international taxonomic databases but already recorded from Portugal: Aplonobia histricina, Eotetranychus rubiphilus, Schizonobia sycophanta, Tetranychus kanzawai and Tetranycopsis horridus (at a national level), and Oligonychus perseae and Panonychus citri (for the mainland). New host records are given for Bryobia praetiosa, Petrobia (Tetranychina) harti, S. sycophanta, E. coryli, E. rubiphilus, Tetranychus kanzawai, Tetranychus lintearius, Tetranychus ludeni and Tetranychus turkestani.

Three new alien spider mites (Prostigmata, Tetranychidae) from south-eastern France

“…Stigmaeopsis Banks, 1917: 195. Type-species: Stigmaeopsis celarius Banks Stigmaeopsis nanjingensis (Ma & Yuan, 1980) Figures 2B, 3I-L Stigmaeopsis nanjingensis is known only from Oriental region, from China (Palearctic region probably), and from Europe: in Italy (Pellizzari and Duso, 2009), in Hungary (Kontschan and Nemenyi, 2013) and in mainland Portugal (Naves et al 2021). According to Migeon and Dorkeld (2022), this species inhabits several bamboos species belonging to the genera Fargesia, Phyllostachys and Pseudosasa.…”

Oligonychus perseae (Tetranychidae) Invasion in the Canary Islands: History, Management and Current Situation

“…Indeed, it was found in Gran Canaria at the end of 2006, in La Gomera in 2007 and in El Hierro in 2008 [19]. More recently it has been found in the Portuguese region of Óbidos [20], Italy [21], Morocco [22] and the French Riviera [23].…”

The dark-red spider mite, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher (Acari: Tetranychidae): A new pest in Serbian acarofauna

“…In the Western Palaearctic, distribution reports of T. ludeni have recently come mostly from the Mediterranean Basin, i.e. the Azores, Madeira, Canaries, central and southern parts of Portugal, Spanish Mediterranean coast, Sicily and Israel (Hurtado et al, 2008;Ben-David et al, 2013;Ragusa et al, 2019;Naves et al, 2021). Over the last 50 years, the dark-red spider mite has also been reported in Greece, Egypt and Morocco (Migeon & Dorkeld, 2022).…”