Frequent quarantine interception in South Africa of grapevine Colomerus species (Trombidiformes: Prostigmata: Eriophyidae): taxonomic and distributional ambiguities

Abstract

Grapevine is host to two Colomerus species: Colomerus vitis (Co. vitis), distributed worldwide; and Colomerus oculivitis (Co. oculivitis), restricted to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Both these eriophyid species, as well as Colomerus specimens morphologically near them, were intercepted by South African officials on table grapes and grapevine budwood imported from a number of different countries. Colomerus oculivitis may have a wider distribution than reported and/or its taxonomy may be erroneous. In addition, breeding colonies of Colomerus mites were found on imported fresh table grapes. This represents an unconsidered introduction pathway for eriophyoids on grapevine. A survey and taxonomic study on grapevine eriophyoid mites are presently underway in South Africa. Due to taxonomic uncertainties, it is our opinion that Colomerus mites from grapevine worldwide cannot be identified accurately to species.

Keywords:

• Acari
• Eriophyoidea
• mites
• Colomerus vitis
• Colomerus oculivitis
• taxonomy
• plant mite pests
• phytosanitation
• plant quarantine

Acknowledgements

We thank the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the Fresh Produce Importers Association (FPIA) and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) for funding this study. We thank H. Ramukhesa and S. Rosenberg (DAFF) for specimen collection and T. Makutoane (ARC) for specimen collection and preparation. We thank J. H. Venter (DAFF) and M. Theyse (FPIA) for their roles in initiating the survey. We thank P. Chetverikov (Saint-Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia) for permission to use his personal communication to us, and for the transliteration of the title of the reference to the article by Mal'chenkova. Lastly, we thank E. de Lillo and anonymous reviewers for their improvement of the article. The first author did the identifications and contributed the taxonomic parts, and the second author contributed all data regarding quarantine and phytosanitation.