Species Of Eriophyoid Mites Research Articles

A checklist of eriophyoid species (Acari: Eriophyidae) on Zygophyllaceae with descriptions of two new species from Northeast Iran

During field survey of eriophyoid mites in northeast Iran (Razavi Khorasan, Iran, summer 2023), two new eriophyoid mite species (Acari: Eriophyoidea: Eriophyidae) on Zygophyllum atriplicoides Fisch. et C.A.Mey. subsp. atriplicoides (Zygophyllaceae) were discovered, illustrated and described herein. They are Aceria kalatiensis sp. nov., which caused rounded galls on both sides of the leaves, and Aculus sirzariensis sp. nov., which was vagrant on the same samples. Furthermore, we provided a checklist of eriophyoid mite species associated with Zygophyllaceae plants of the world.

Description of one new genus and three new eriophyoid mite species (Acari: Acariformes: Eriophyoidea) from South China

A new genus and three new species of eriophyoid mites from China are described and illustrated. They are Abifurcacothrix brassaiopsis gen. nov. & sp. nov. infesting Brassaiopsis glomerulata (Bl.) Regel. (Araliaceae), Neocalepitrimerus pittosporus sp. nov. and Diptilomiopus illicioides sp. nov. infesting Pittosporum illicioides Mak. (Pittosporaceae). These new species were found to be vagrant on the lower surface of their associated plant leaves, with no apparent damage observed.

Phylogenomics resolves the higher-level phylogeny of herbivorous eriophyoid mites (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea)

BackgroundEriophyoid mites (Eriophyoidea) are among the largest groups in the Acariformes; they are strictly phytophagous. The higher-level phylogeny of eriophyoid mites, however, remains unresolved due to the limited number of available morphological characters—some of them are homoplastic. Nevertheless, the eriophyoid mites sequenced to date showed highly variable mitochondrial (mt) gene orders, which could potentially be useful for resolving the higher-level phylogenetic relationships.ResultsHere, we sequenced and compared the complete mt genomes of 153 eriophyoid mite species, which showed 54 patterns of rearranged mt gene orders relative to that of the hypothetical ancestor of arthropods. The shared derived mt gene clusters support the monophyly of eriophyoid mites (Eriophyoidea) as a whole and the monophylies of six clades within Eriophyoidea. These monophyletic groups and their relationships were largely supported in the phylogenetic trees inferred from mt genome sequences as well. Our molecular dating results showed that Eriophyoidea originated in the Triassic and diversified in the Cretaceous, coinciding with the diversification of angiosperms.ConclusionsThis study reveals multiple molecular synapomorphies (i.e. shared derived mt gene clusters) at different levels (i.e. family, subfamily or tribe level) from the complete mt genomes of 153 eriophyoid mite species. We demonstrated the use of derived mt gene clusters in unveiling the higher-level phylogeny of eriophyoid mites, and underlines the origin of these mites and their co-diversification with angiosperms.

Three new Rhyncaphytoptinae mite species from China (Acari: Eriophyoidea)</p >

Three new species of eriophyoid mite from China are described and illustrated. They are Rhyncaphytoptus emeishanicus sp. nov. on Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala (Sapindaceae), Rhyncaphytoptus thysanolaenus sp. nov. on Thysanolaena latifolia (Poaceae), and Catarhinus haikouicus sp. nov. on Miscanthus floridulus (Poaceae). All three new eriophyoid mite species are vagrants causing no apparent symptom to their host plants.

A new genus, new species and new record of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Diptilomiopidae) from Thailand

Saraphia siamensis gen. nov. & sp. nov. (Acari: Eriophyoidea) from Mammea siamensis (Miq.) T. Anderson in Thailand is described, illustrated. We provide a geometric morphometric analysis based on different geoghraphic populations. Additionally, we report Vasates spondiasi Boczek & Chandrapatya, 1989, a new record from M. siamensis. No visible damaging symptom was observed for both eriophyoid mite species, indicating that they are vagrants on the underside of leaves.

A checklist of eriophyoid mites of China (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea)

This paper provides an updated checklist of eriophyoid mites found in China, including 1340 named species and a new synonym: Calvittacus spectabilus Yin, Lu, Liu & Xue, 2022, synonym of Vittacus bougainvilleae (Keifer, 1959). The top ten speciose genera are Aceria (81 species), Tetra (71 species), Diptilomiopus (68 species), Phyllocoptes (58 species), Diptacus (57 species), Tegolophus (53 species), Aculus (52 species), Rhyncaphytoptus (50 species), Calepitrimerus (50 species), and Epitrimerus (42 species). In addition, we provided the Chinese name for each eriophyoid mite species.

Global patterns of herbivorous eriophyoid mite species diversity: A reply to Ozman‐Sullivan and Sullivan (2024)

AbstractAimThe global patterns of phytophagous eriophyoid mite species diversity have been poorly studied for several decades. In a previous paper, we compiled a dataset covering 97% (4278/4400) of named eriophyoid mite species and 22,973 occurrence sites from 102 countries (Li et al., 2023). Using this dataset, we aimed to predict the global distribution patterns and species diversity of eriophyoid mites. Our findings revealed that the species richness of eriophyoid mites is particularly high in temperate regions, which is in contrast to the patterns of plants (Li et al., 2023). However, our results were criticized by Ozman‐Sullivan and Sullivan (2024), who argue that our analysis is based on a biased dataset of eriophyoid mites, because it is likely that there are many undescribed eriophyoid species in the tropics.LocationGlobal.TaxonEriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea).Main ConclusionsHowever, using plant species to predict eriophyoid mite diversity, as Ozman‐Sullivan and Sullivan propose, may result in an overestimation of species richness. We leave ‘whether the species richness of eriophyid mites is high in tropical regions’ as an open question and a potential area for future research.

Unveiling the spatiotemporal evolutionary patterns of eriophyoid mites in China

AbstractEriophyoid mites are among the most species‐rich superfamilies (Eriophyoidea) in the Acari, consisting of over 5000 named species. Although they exhibit a geographically uneven worldwide distribution, their regional spatiotemporal evolutionary patterns remain largely unknown. Here, we compiled a data set including 3058 occurrence records assigned into 1203 species in China. We found that eriophyoid mite species richness is higher in the southeast and lower in the northwest of China, coinciding with the 500‐mm annual precipitation isoline. Using fragments of two mitochondrial genes (COI, 12S rRNA) and two nuclear genes (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA) of 304 eriophyoid mite species, we constructed a regional dated phylogenetic tree in China. Our spatiotemporal analysis revealed that mountains in eastern and southern China had high eriophyoid mite species richness and phylogenetic clustering, possessing both ancient and young mite lineages. Species distribution modelling (SDM) results showed that the predicted suitable area of eriophyoid mites slightly expanded from the last inter‐glacial period to the last glacial maximum period. In comparison with the current SDM, a significantly larger distribution range was observed in future scenarios. These findings suggest that mountains in eastern and southern China acted as not only cradles—recent rapid speciation, but also museums—centre of gradual accumulation and preservation and provide insights into monitoring and conserving eriophyoid mites.

Two new species of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Eriophyoidea) associated with Callerya Endl. and supplementary descriptions of Fujianacarus wisterianis from China.

Two new eriophyid mite species (Acari: Prostigmata: Eriophyoidea) were described from the host plants of the genus Callerya Endl. during a field survey in China: Tetra nitidae sp. nov. vagrant on leaves ofCallerya nitida (Bentham) R. Geesink (Leguminosae),and Calepitrimerus calleryus sp. nov. vagrant on leaves ofCallerya tsui (F. P. Metcalf) Z. Wei & Pedley. Both species caused no apparent symptoms in their host plants. Additionally, this paper provides a supplementary morphological description and illustrations of Fujianacarus wisterianis Song, Xue & Hong, 2008 (Eriophyoidea).

Global patterns of the species richness and distribution of eriophyoid mites: a response to Li et al. 2023

AbstractAimThe global distribution and diversity of mites, including the species rich and highly host plant‐specific eriophyoid mites, are important questions in biogeography and biodiversity conservation. Here we critique the paper of Li et al. (2023) titled ‘Global patterns and drivers of herbivorous eriophyoid mite species diversity’.LocationGlobalTaxonEriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea)MethodsWe assert that the data set utilized (less than 4,500 eriophyoid species) consisted of only the described extant species, not all extant species. We then provide evidence that the utilised data set represents only a small proportion of the likely global total of eriophyoid species and therefore provides a far from complete representation of their global distribution.ResultsMost collections of extant eriophyoid mites have been conducted in temperate regions where most taxonomic specialists have been active, and not in the largely unstudied tropical regions which contain a very substantial majority of all plant diversity. Most undescribed eriophyoid diversity is therefore highly likely to be found in the tropics. This suggests that the global modelling analyses of Li et al. (2023) were very likely applied to a highly inaccurate data set.Main ConclusionsThe actual global distribution and total number of eriophyoid mite species can only be more reliably estimated by systematic taxonomic studies that cover the entire global distribution of plant diversity, which implies a strong focus on the tropical regions.

Occurrence of five species of Eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) and their nature of infestation on tropical plants from northern Districts of West Bengal, India

During the general surveys for eriophyoid mites in two districts namely Malda and Dakshin Dinajpur of West Bengal, India, five eriophyoid mites namely Aceria ficus (Cotte), Aceria granati (Canestrini & Massalongo), Aceria mauritianae Amrine & Stasny, Aceria nerii Channabasavanna, and Aceria lalbaghi Amrine & Stasny, were collected from four tropical plants. The host association, relationship with the host plants and their nature of damage, climatic condition of the study area, vegetative patterns of the study area and a taxonomic key to the species are provided in this article. Bangladesh J. Zool. 51(1): 55-70, 2023

Eriophyoid mite species on bamboo in China (Acari: Eriophyidae): one new species and supplementary description of two sympatric species

Eriophyoid mites are characterized by high host plant specificity—roughly 80% named species infesting only one host plant species. However, sympatric species, i.e. two or more eriophyoid mites infesting the same host, were consistently reported. In this study, we described and illustrated one new species, Abacarus horseshoex sp. nov. on Bambusa sp., and re-described two sympatric species, Abacarus fuzhoubambusae nom. nov. and Knorella bambusae (Kuang & Feng, 1989) on Bambusa multiplex (Lour.) Raeusch. ex Schult. (Poaceae). Abacarus bambusae Kuang & Zhuo, 1987 now is Abacarus fuzhoubambusae nom. nov. All three eriophyoid mite species are vagrants causing no apparent symptom to their host plants. We further provided mitochondrial gene (cox1, 12S rRNA) and nuclear gene (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA) sequences for the new species and mitochondrial gene (cox1) for the other two species.

Three new species of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) from South China

ABSTRACT Three new species of eriophyoid mites from South China are described and illustrated: Dichopelmus homalii sp. nov. and Agenuseta tianliaomus sp. nov. from Homalium cochinchinense (Lour.) Druce (Salicaceae). Levonga melicopeae sp. nov. from Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. ex Benth.) T. G. Hartley (Rutaceae). All of them are vagrants on lower leaf surface and cause no apparent symptom to their host plants.

Diptacus rubuscolum Trinidad, Duarte and Navia (Eriophyoidea: Diptilomiopidae) on blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius Schott) in Mexico: occurrence, complementary description, and biology

Blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius Scott) is an economically important crop in Mexico. Eriophyoidea mites are among the most important arthropod pests affecting production of this crop worldwide. Despite this, reports on species diversity of Eriophyoidea on blackberry in Mexico are scarce. We sampled six orchards from two municipalities in the state of Michoacan, the most important region for blackberry production. Sampling was carried out monthly between May and November 2018. Only one species of eriophyoid mite was found, Diptacus rubuscolum Trinidad, Duarte and Navia. We conducted a detailed morphological study of this mite and a complementary description is presented. In addition, we obtained partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mt COI), the 18S and 28S of the rRNA. The duration of each developmental stage was determined under controlled conditions (25 °C, 60% RH and 12:12 light regime). We confirmed the identity of D. rubuscolum by comparing partial sequences of the D2 region within the 28S rRNA from our samples and sequences retrieved from GenBank. Overall, morphological characteristics were in line with the type specimens. However, some differences on body shape and empodium structure were pointed out. The developmental stages of D. rubuscolum were egg, larva, nymphochrysalis, nymph, imagochrysalis and adult, with a mean duration of 75 (±10), 56 (±9), 21 (±7), 41 (±8), 19 (±6) and 114 (±12) hours respectively. The information produced provides insight and knowledge on the occurrence of this species on blackberry in Mexico as well as on original biological aspects.

Four new Diptilomiopus mite species (Acari: Diptilomiopidae) from China

Four new eriophyoid mite species of the genus Diptilomiopus Nalepa (Acari: Diptilomiopidae) from China are described and illustrated. They are D. cotoneastrus sp. nov. on Cotoneaster acutifolius Turcz. (Rosaceae), D. clidemioidus sp. nov. on Boehmeria clidemioides var. diffusa (Wedd.) Hand.-Mazz. (Urticaceae), D. quinatus sp. nov. on Vitex quinata (Lour.) F.N.Williams (Lamiaceae), and D. macropodus sp. nov. on Daphniphyllum macropodum Miq. (Daphniphyllaceae). All new species are distributed in the Oriental Region of China. They are vagrants on the leaves causing no apparent symptom to their host plants. We further provided mitochondrial cox1 gene sequences for the four new species.

Two new Phyllocoptine species (Acariformes: Eriophyidae: Phyllocoptinae) from northern Iran

Two new Phyllocoptine species (Eriophyidae: Phyllocoptinae) including Shevtchenkella acerutinis sp. nov. and Epitrimerus cupresservirens sp. nov. were collected from Acer velutinum Boiss. (Sapindaceae) and Cupressus sempervirens L. (Cupressaceae), respectively in Sari county, Mazandaran province, North of Iran. They are described and illustrated. This is the first report of eriophyoid mite species in association with Acer velutinum and Cupressus sempervirens plants.

Eriophyoid mite species associated with Acer monspessulanum L. in Urmia region of Iran

With the aim of obtaining more information about eriophyoid mites of Iran, eriophyoid fauna of Montpellier maples (Acer monspessulanum L.) in Khan valley, Baranduzchay-ye Jonubi Rural District, Urmia county, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran was studied. In total, four eriophyoid species were identified; two of them, Aceria azerbaijaniensis Lotfollahi et Mohammad-Doustaresharaf sp. nov. and Cecidophyes aceressulani Lotfollahi et Mohammad-Doustaresharaf sp. nov., were new in science. A. azerbaijaniensis sp. nov. is the third Aceria species found on Sapindaceae plants in Iran. C. aceressulani sp. nov. is the third Cecidophyes species in Iran and the first Cecidophyes species found on Sapindaceae plants of Iran. In addition, Rhyncaphytoptus saccharini Keifer, 1959 herein was recorded for the first time in Iran.

Macroevolutionary analyses point to a key role of hosts in diversification of the highly speciose eriophyoid mite superfamily

The superfamily Eriophyoidea includes >5000 named species of very small phytophagous mites. As for many groups of phytophagous invertebrates, factors responsible for diversification of eriophyoid mites are unclear. Here, we used an inferred phylogeny of 566 putative species of eriophyoid mites based on fragments of two mitochondrial genes and two nuclear genes to examine factors associated with their massive evolutionary diversification through time. Our dated phylogeny indicates a Carboniferous origin for gymnosperm-associated Eriophyoidea with subsequent diversification involving multiple host shifts to angiosperms—first to dicots, and then to monocots or shifts back to gymnosperms—beginning in the Cretaceous period when angiosperms diverged. Speciation rates increased more rapidly in the Eriophyidae + Diptilomiopidae (mostly infesting angiosperms) than in the Phytoptidae (mostly infesting gymnosperms). Phylogenetic signal, speciation rates, dispersal and vicariance results combined with inferred topologies show that hosts played a key role in the evolution of eriophyoid mites. Speciation constrained by hosts was probably the main driver behind eriophyoid mite diversification worldwide. We demonstrate monophyly of the Eriophyoidea, whereas all three families, most subfamilies, tribes, and most genera are not monophyletic. Our time-calibrated tree provides a framework for further evolutionary studies of eriophyoid mites and their interactions with host plants as well as taxonomic revisions above the species level.

Global patterns and drivers of herbivorous eriophyoid mite species diversity

AbstractAimEnvironmental drivers and host richness play key roles in affecting herbivore diversity. However, the relative effects of these factors and their effects on lineages characterized by high host specificity are not well known. In this study, we explored the extent to which contemporary climate, Quaternary climate change, habitat heterogeneity and host plants determine the species richness and endemism patterns of herbivorous eriophyoid mites.LocationGlobal.TaxonEriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea).MethodsWe compiled a dataset comprising 4278 eriophyoid mite species from 22,973 occurrence sites based on a comprehensive search of the published literature and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) as a basis for predicting their global distribution patterns. We measured the association of environmental variables and host plant richness with species richness and endemism of eriophyoid mites through multiple regression analyses using a simultaneous autoregressive (SAR) model, an ordinary least squares (OLS) model and a random forest model. We examined the direct and indirect effects of these environmental variables and the host plant richness on eriophyoid mite diversity using structural equation models (SEMs).ResultsThe species richness and endemism patterns of eriophyoid mites are concentrated in temperate regions. Contemporary climate, Quaternary climate change, habitat heterogeneity and host plants all significantly affected eriophyoid mite richness, while Quaternary climate change, habitat heterogeneity and host plants contributed to the eriophyoid mite endemism. Abiotic factors indirectly influenced the species richness and endemism of eriophyoid mites, via biotic factors—host plants.Main ConclusionsThe species richness and endemism of eriophyoid mites peak in temperate regions, opposite to the patterns of plants and some other organisms. Complex interactions among biotic and abiotic factors shape the current eriophyoid mite species diversity.

Three new species Nothopoda Keifer (Acari, Nothopodinae) from Guangxi, China

ABSTRACT In this paper, three new species of eriophyoid mites belonging to the subfamily Nothopodinae from Guangxi are described and illustrated. They are Nothopoda maesae sp. nov. collected on Maesa perlaria (Lour.) Merr. (Myrsinaceae), Nothopoda camelliae sp. nov. collected on Camellia oleifera Abel (Theaceae), and Nothopoda nepalense sp. nov. collected on Alnus nepalensis D. Don (Betulaceae). All the species are vagrants on the lower leaf surface, causing no apparent damage to their host plants. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4AC5CCA4-22FD-4B9B-B76D-35CDA24392C4