First record of Tetranychus ludeni Zacher (Acariformes: Tetranychidae) in Italy

ABSTRACT

Tetranychus ludeni Zacher is reported here for the first time in Italy. It was found on some cultivated and spontaneous plants, often associated with Tetranychus urticae Koch. Four phytoseiid mites, widely distributed in the Mediterranean countries, Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, Iphiseius degenerans Berlese, Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) kerkirae Swirski and Ragusa, and Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) transvaalensis Nesbitt, were found associated with T. ludeni In Sicily. The morphological characters for the identification of the four Italian Tetranychus species are also reported.

KEYWORDS:

• Tetranychus ludeni
• Italy
• Sicily
• Phytoseiidae
• identification characters

Acknowledgments

Authors are deeply indebted to Mrs Eleonora Chiavetta for the revision of the English text. Thanks are also due to the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments in the preparation of this paper. The “Progetti interni di Ateneo ID 2012-ATE-0452” provided financial support for this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Palermo [2012-ATE-0452].