Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with complementary description of Amblyseius impeltatus Denmark & Muma
Author
Cavalcante, Ana Cristina Cerqueira
Author
Demite, Peterson Rodrigo
Author
Lofego, Antônio Carlos
Author
Hernandes, Fabio Akashi
text
Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia
2021
2021-10-29
61
1
7
http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.98
journal article
10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.98
1807-0205
7176991
Leonseius regularis
(De Leon)
Material examined:
Paraty:
3 females
on
P. americana
,
20-IV-2007
;
4 females
on
Cupania
sp.
,
27-VII-2008
.
All species found here had previously been report- ed in the Atlantic Forest in South coast of
SÃo Paulo State
(Gondim-Jr. & Moraes, 2001;
Moraes
et al.,
2013
;
Zacarias & Moraes, 2002
), distant about
400 km
from both areas sampled in this study.This suggests a similarity among phytoseiid mite communities from different areas of Atlantic Forest.
Two species found in this study,
T. cananeiensis
and
P.marumbus
,
have been found only in the Atlantic Forest so far, suggesting they might be endemic to this biome. Others, like
Amblyseius largoensis
,
Euseius alatus
,
Iphiseiodes zuluagai
,
and
Proprioseiopsis dominigos
,
all reported herein, are also frequently registered in several agricultural crops in other localities and biomes in
Brazil
, indicating phytoseiids from the Atlantic Forest may also migrate to nearby crops and act as natural enemies of pest mites. This reinforces the idea of the native vegetation working as reservoirs of phytoseiids as suggested by previous authors (
Tixier
et al.,
2000
;
Demite & Feres, 2005
,
2008
;
Lofego & Moraes, 2006
; Castro & Moraes, 2007, 2010;
Demite
et al.,
2013
;
Rezende
et al.,
2014
). Phytoseiids have a major role in ecosystems, regulating phytophagous mite populations in natural environments and agroecosystems (
Demite
et al.,
2013
;
Lofego & Moraes, 2006
). Surveying natural vegetation areas provides a clearer picture of the real diversity of these organisms, also contributing to understand the structure of mite communities and the species turnover between natural vegetation and adjacent crops.