A new synonymy, CO1 barcode, and host and distribution records of the mite Podapolipus luzoni (Acari: Podapolipidae), a subelytral parasite of the invasive beetle, Gonocephalum adpressiforme (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

ABSTRACT

An unusually heavy infestation of 45 adult females and 100% prevalence of the parasitic podapolipid mite, Podapolipus luzoni, was discovered in a population of the invasive tenebrionid beetle species, Gonocephalum adpressiforme, from Japan. Previously, Podapolipus luzoni was known from a single record from the Philippines from an unidentified tenebrionid beetle. We clarify the host range and distribution of the mite species, including its occurrence on Gonocephalum adpressiforme from the Philippines, and discuss its synonymy with Podapolipus alumniae, collected from the same host species in Hawaii. Diagnostic, light microscopy pictures of Podapolipus luzoni are provided. A 1230-bp fragment of the “barcode” CO1 gene was sequenced to facilitate DNA-based identification.

KEYWORDS:

• Acari
• Podapolipus luzoni
• heavy infestation
• Gonocephalum adpressiforme
• CO1 barcode

Acknowledgments

We thank Evert E. Lindquist (Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa) for thorough review of our manuscript. PBK thanks Dr Kimiko Okabe (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan) for the opportunity to visit Japan as part the 14th International Congress of Acarology held in Kyoto, Japan on July 14–18, 2014. The molecular work of this study was conducted in the Genomic Diversity Laboratory of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

PBK was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research [grant no. 18-04-01092A] and A. Khaustov was supported by the Russian Science Foundation [grant 16-14-10109].