A new species of Neoseiulus Hughes (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Sao Paulo State, Brazil

International audienceA new species Neoseiulus jeca n. sp. is decribed in this paper based on specimens collected on Cecropia sp. in the Atlantic Forest area of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Neoseiulus jeca n. sp. is the third species included in the peruanus species group. This species group has been registered only in South America and Africa

Tetranychidae (Acari) in forest fragments in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

International audienceTetranychidae is an important family of phytophagous mites, with some species considered agricultural pests. Nevertheless, there are few studies about the diversity of this mite family in natural environments. Thus, the objective was to record the species of spider mites associated with plants in forest fragments located in the Northwestern of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Thirty-eight species belonging to 14 genera of Tetranychidae were recorded. Only Tetranychus mexicanus and Eutetranychus banksi, species recorded on plants of economic interest, in some cases causing damage to crops, were abundant and frequent in the forest fragments sampled in this study. The knowledge of plants that can serve as alternate hosts or plant-traps can assist in understanding the dynamics of these mites in agroecosystems. The great diversity of Tetranychidae registered, and the limited knowledge of these mites associated with plants in natural environments, reinforces the importance of surveys carried out in forest remnants. Future studies should be conducted to increase the knowledge of spider mites in natural areas

Contrasting Engineering Effects Of Leaf-rolling Caterpillars On A Tropical Mite Community

Ecosystem engineers are organisms that change the physical structure of environments and provide habitats for other organisms. Lepidopteran caterpillars may act as ecosystem engineers by rolling leaves as shelters to complete metamorphosis. After being abandoned, these structures may provide shelter for other organisms. In this study, the influence of leaf-rolling caterpillars on tropical mite communities was reported. Expanded leaves and leaves rolled by larvae and also developed field experiments using leaves rolled manually with different shapes and sizes (i.e. different architectures) in different seasons were surveyed (dry and rainy). While the abundance and diversity of predatory mites were higher in rolled leaves, the abundance of phytophages decreased in these leaves. Species composition differed between rolled and expanded leaves. The structure of shelters affected the distribution of predatory mites, with higher abundances found on funnel-shaped leaves. Predatory mites only benefited from the rolled leaves in the dry season. This is the first study showing (i) the contrasting effects of ecosystem engineers on microarthropod communities, favouring some feeding guilds and inhibiting others; (ii) that the shape of rolled leaves has variable effects on mite communities; and (iii) that facilitation was temporally dependent, i.e. occurred only in the dry season. © 2013 The Royal Entomological Society.382193200Badano, E.I., Marquet, P.A., Cavieres, L.A., Predicting effects of ecosystem engineering on species richness along primary productivity gradients (2010) Acta Oecologica, 36, pp. 46-54Brown, K.S., Borboletas da Serra do Japi: diversidade, habitats, recursos alimentares e variação temporal (1992) História natural da Serra do Japi, pp. 142-186. , L. P. C. Morellato, Editora Unicamp/FAPESP, Campinas, BrazilCappuccino, N., Martin, M., Estimating early-season leaf-tiers of paper birch reduce abundance of mid-summer species (1994) Ecological Entomology, 19, pp. 399-401Clarke, K.R., Warwick, R.M., (1994) Change in Marine Communities- An Approach to Statistical Analysis and Interpretation, , Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, U.KCrawford, K.M., Crutsinger, G.M., Sanders, N.J., Host-plant genotypic diversity mediates the distribution of an ecosystem engineer (2007) Ecology, 88, pp. 2114-2120Diniz, I.R., Morais, H.C., Lepidopteran caterpillar fauna of cerrado host plants (1997) Biodiversity and Conservation, 6, pp. 817-836Flechtmann, C.H.W., (1975) Elementos de acarologia, , Nobel, São Paulo, BrazilFournier, V., Rosenheim, J.A., Brodeur, J., Laney, L.O., Johnson, M.W., Herbivorous mites as ecological engineers: indirect effects on arthropods inhabiting papaya foliage (2003) Oecologia, 135, pp. 442-450Fukui, A., Indirect interactions mediated by leaf shelter in animal-plant communities (2001) Population Ecology, 43, pp. 31-40Fukui, A., Murakami, M., Konno, K., Nakamura, M., Ohgushi, T., A leaf rolling caterpillar improves leaf quality (2002) Entomological Science, 5, pp. 263-266Gotelli, N.J., Colwell, R.K., Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness (2001) Ecology Letters, 4, pp. 379-391Hastings, A., Byers, J.E., Crooks, J.A., Cuddington, K., Jones, C.G., Lambrinos, J.G., Ecosystem engineering in space and time (2007) Ecology Letters, 10, pp. 153-164Janzen, D.H., Ecological characterization of a Costa Rican dry forest caterpillar fauna (1988) Biotropica, 20, pp. 120-135Jones, C.G., Lawton, J.H., Shachak, M., Organisms as ecosystem engineers (1994) Oikos, 69, pp. 373-386Jones, C.G., Lawton, J.H., Shachak, M., Positive and negative effects of organisms as physical ecosystem engineers (1997) Ecology, 78, pp. 1946-1957Kawasaki, T., Yano, S., Osakabe, M., Effects of wall structure and light intensity on the settlement of a predatory mite, Euseius sojaensis (Ehara) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) (2009) Applied Entomology and Zoology, 44, pp. 81-84Kreiter, S., Tixier, M.S., Croft, B.A., Auger, P., Barret, D., Plants and leaf characteristics influencing the predaceous mite Kampimodromus aberrans (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in habitats surrounding vineyards (2002) Environmental Entomology, 31, pp. 648-660Leitão-Filho, H.L., A flora arbórea da Serra do Japi (1992) História natural da Serra do Japi, pp. 40-62. , L. P. C. Morelatto, Editora da UNICAMP, Campinas, BrazilLind, E., Jones, M.T., Long, J.D., Weiss, M.R., Ontogenetic changes in leaf shelter construction by larvae of the silver spotted skipper, Epargyreus clarus (2001) Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, 54, pp. 77-82Marquis, R.J., Lill, J.T., Effects of arthropods as physical ecosystem engineers on plant-based trophic interaction webs (2006) Indirect Interaction Webs: Nontrophic linkages Through Induced Plant Traits, pp. 246-274. , T. Ohgushi, P. Craig and P. W. Price, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.KMartinsen, G.D., Floate, K.D., Waltz, A.M., Wimp, G.M., Whitham, T.G., Positive interactions between leafrollers and other arthropods enhance biodiversity on hybrid cottonwoods (2000) Oecologia, 123, pp. 82-89Moraes, G.J., Flechtmann, C.H.W., (2008) Manual de acarologia: acarologia básica e ácaros de plantas cultivadas no Brasil, , Holos, Ribeirão Preto, BrazilNakamura, M., Ohgushi, T., Positive e negative effects of leaf shelters on herbivorous insects: linking multiple herbivores on a willow (2003) Oecology, 136, pp. 445-449Norton, A.P., English-Loeb, G., Belden, E., Hostplant manipulation of natural enemies: leaf domatia protectbeneficial mites from insect predators (2001) Oecologia, 126, pp. 535-542Norton, A.P., English-Loeb, G., Gadoury, D., Seem, R.C., Mycophagous mites and foliar pathogens: leaf domatia mediate tritrophic interactions in grapes (2000) Ecology, 81, pp. 490-499Ohgushi, T., Herbivore induced indirect interaction webs on terrestrial plants: the importance of non-trophic, indirect, and facilitative interactions (2008) Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 128, pp. 217-229Pinto, H.S., Clima na Serra do Japi (1992) História natural da Serra do Japi: ecologia e preservação de uma Área florestal no Sudeste do Brasil, pp. 30-38. , L. P. C. Morellato, Editora da Unicamp, Campinas, BrazilQueiroz, J.M., Host plant use among closely related Anaea butterfly species (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae) (2002) Brazilian Journal of Biology, 62, pp. 657-663Quinn, G.P., Keough, M.J., (2002) Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists, , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.KRibeiro, S.P., Borges, P.A.V., Gaspar, C., Melo, C., Serrano, A.R.M., Amaral, J., Canopy insect herbivores in the Azorean Laurisilva forests: key host plant species in a highly generalist insect community (2005) Ecography, 28, pp. 315-330Romero, G.Q., Benson, W.W., Leaf domatia mediate mutualism between mites and a tropical tree (2004) Oecologia, 140, pp. 609-616Romero, G.Q., Benson, W.W., Biotic interaction of mites, plants and leaf domatia (2005) Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 8, pp. 436-440Ruppert, E.E., Fox, R.S., Barnes, R.D., (2003) Invertebrate Zoology: A Functional Evolutionary Approach, , 7th edn. Brooks Cole, Belmont, CaliforniaSandberg, S.L., Berenbaum, M.R., Leaf-tying by tortricid larvae as an adaptation for feeding on phototoxic Hypericum perforatum (1989) Journal of Chemical Ecology, 15, pp. 875-885Santoro, E., Machado, D.L., Elementos geológicos da Serra do Japi (1992) História natural da Serra do Japi, pp. 24-29. , ed. by L. P. C. Morelatto, Editora da UNICAMP, Campinas, BrazilWalter, D.E., Living on leaves: mites, tomenta, and leaf domatia (1996) Annual Review of Entomology, 41, pp. 101-114Waltz, A.M., Whitham, T.G., Plant development affects arthropod communities: opposing impact of species removal (1997) Ecology, 78, pp. 2133-2144Woodcock, B.A., Potts, S.G., Westbury, D.B., Ramsay, A.J., Lambert, M., Harris, S.J., The importance of sward architectural complexity in structuring predatory and phytophagous invertebrate assemblages (2007) Ecological Entomology, 32, pp. 302-31

Fitoseídeos (Acari: Phytoseiidae) associados a cafezais e fragmentos florestais vizinhos Phytoseiids (Acari: Phytoseiidae) associated to coffee plantations and adjacent forest fragments

Existem poucas informações sobre a fauna de ácaros predadores (Phytoseiidae) em ambientes naturais brasileiros adjacentes a agroecossistemas cafeeiros (Coffea spp.) ou sobre a influência que essa vegetação exerce como reservatório de ácaros predadores. Neste estudo, objetivou-se avaliar a diversidade destes organismos em cafeeiros e fragmentos florestais adjacentes. Coletaram-se amostras das espécies Calyptranthes clusiifolia (Miq.) O. Berg (Myrtaceae), Esenbeckia febrifuga (A. St.-Hil.) A. Juss. ex Mart. (Rutaceae), Metrodorea stipularis Mart. (Rutaceae) e Allophylus semidentatus (Miq.) Radlk. (Sapindaceae), em oito fragmentos florestais, de 5 a 51 ha, e cafezais adjacentes, nos meses de junho (final período chuvoso) e outubro (final período seco) nos anos 2004 e 2005, na região Sul do Estado de Minas Gerais. Ácaros foram extraídos das folhas, utilizando o método de lavagem e, em seguida, montados em lâminas de microscopia em meio de Hoyer, para identificação específica. No total foram identificados 2.348 fitoseídeos, sendo 2.090 nos fragmentos florestais e 258 espécimes nos cafezais adjacentes, pertencentes a 38 espécies. Servindo-se de análise faunística, a espécie Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma, 1972 apresentou os melhores índices no agroecossistema cafeeiro, sendo muito frequente e constante nas épocas estudadas. Nos fragmentos florestais Amblyseius herbicolus Chant, 1959, Iphiseiodes affs. neonobilis Denmark & Muma, 1978, Leonseius regularis DeLeon, 1965 e Euseius alatus DeLeon, 1966 foram dominantes, muito abundantes, muito frequentes e constantes nas épocas estudadas. Podemos concluir que a vegetação nativa abriga ácaros predadores, inimigos naturais de ácaros-praga, que ocorrem na cultura cafeeira, possibilitando o desenvolvimento de programas de manejo ecológico com áreas de vegetação natural e agroecossistemas cafeeiros adjacentes.<br>There is little information about the fauna of predatory mites (Phytoseiidae) in Brazilian natural environments, adjacent to coffee agroecosystems (Coffea spp.), or about the influence exerted by neighbor vegetation as a reservoir of predatory mites. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diversity of these organisms in coffee plantations and adjacent forest fragments. Samples of the species Calyptranthes clusiifolia (Miq.) O. Berg (Myrtaceae), Esenbeckia febrifuga (A. St.-Hil.) A. Juss. ex Mart., Metrodorea stipularis Mart. (Rutaceae) and Allophylus semidentatus (Miq.) Radlk. (Sapindaceae) were collected in eight forest fragments, from 5 to 51ha, adjacent to coffee plantations, in June (end of the rainy season) and October (end of the dry season) in the years of 2004 and 2005, in the Southern region of State of Minas Gerais. Leaf mites were extracted using the wash method, mounted in microscopy slides with Hoyer's medium for identification. A total of 2.348 phytoseiids was collected, being 2.090 in the forest fragments and 258 in adjacent coffee plantations, belonging to 38 species. According to fauna analysis, Iphiseiodes zuluaguai Denmark & Muma, the year of 1972 presented the best indexes in the coffee agroecosystem, being very frequent and constant in those periods. In the forest fragments, Amblyseius herbicolus Chant, 1959, Iphiseiodes affs. neonobilis Denmark & Muma, 1978, Leonseius regularis DeLeon, 1965 and Euseius alatus DeLeon, 1966 were dominant, very abundant, very frequent and constant in those periods. One may conclude that the native vegetation shelters predator mite, natural enemies of mite-pests that still occur in coffee culture, making possible ecological management program development involving areas of natural vegetation and adjacent coffee agroecosystems

Mites (Arachnida, Acari) on Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck orange trees in the state of Amazonas, Northern Brazil Ácarofauna de Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck no estado do Amazonas, Brasil

Despite the importance of citriculture in Brazil, very little is known about mite populations in citrus crops in the Northern Region. In the municipality of Manaus, 12 sprayed sweet orange orchards were surveyed every two weeks during seven months to record mite species amount, and to describe the abundance and distribution of the most important species. The size and age of the orchards varied from 3,360 to 88,080 m² and seven to 25 years, respectively. In the fourteen sampling period, leaves, twigs and fruits were collected from 12 trees, one per orchard. In total, 3,360 leaves, 672 twigs and 1,344 fruits were sampled from 168 trees. Mites were manually extracted from the fruits, and by the washing method on leaves and twigs. We identified pests with the potential to cause economic loss. Fourteen species of phytophagous and mycophagous mites from Eriophyidae, Tarsonemidae, Tenuipalpidae, and Tetranychidae were recorded. Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes 1939) and Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashm., 1879), the two commonest phytophagous mites in other Brazilian regions were dominant, showing that local orchards are susceptible to their infestation. Eleven predatory mites were recorded, comprising 10% of the mite population, belonging to Phytoseiidae and Ascidae. Phytoseiidae was the richest family, with ten species. The results are discussed in relation to the temporal variation aspects and habitat use of the most important species. Long-term research encompassing chemical applications followed by evaluations of the mite community are necessary for a better management of the orchards, taking into consideration the seasonal phenology of key pests.<br>Apesar da importância da citricultura no Brasil, pouco se conhece sobre as populações de ácaros em plantações de citros no norte do país. No município de Manaus, 12 pomares de laranja doce pulverizados foram avaliados a cada duas semanas, durante sete meses, para o registro de ácaros plantícolas e para descrever a abundância e a distribuição das espécies mais importantes. O tamanho e a idade dos pomares variaram de 3.360 a 88.0080 m² e de sete a 25 anos, respectivamente. Nos 14 períodos de coleta, folhas, galhos e frutos foram coletados de uma árvore em cada pomar. No total, 3.360 folhas, 672 galhos e 1.344 frutos foram coletados de 168 árvores. Os ácaros foram extraídos dos frutos manualmente e pelo método de lavagem nas folhas e galhos. Identificamos espécies pragas com potencial de causar danos econômicos. Registramos 14 espécies de fitófagos em quatro famílias (Eriophyidae, Tarsonemidae, Tenuipalpidae, and Tetranychidae). Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes 1939) (Tenuipalpidae) e Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashm., 1879) (Eriophyidae), as duas espécies fitófagas mais abundantes em outras regiões, foram dominantes, mostrando que a cultura de citros local é suscetível à infestação. Registramos 11 espécies de predadores das famílias Phytoseiidae e Ascidae, compreendendo 10% da população total. Phytoseiidae foi a família mais diversa, com 10 espécies. Foram discutidos aspectos da variação temporal e utilização de hábitat das espécies mais abundantes. Estudos de longo prazo, envolvendo a aplicação de acaricidas e avaliações da comunidade de ácaros, são necessários para um melhor manejo dos pomares, levando-se em consideração a fenologia das pragas-chave