ABSTRACT
Raoiella indica Hirst (Prostigmata: Tenuipalpidae) is a mite with many hosts and has been reported in many countries. In the Middle East, this mite was reported on date palm in Egypt and Palestine. In 2017, a red mite was found on leaves collected from the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) cultivars “Naboot Saif” and “Fahl Madsarti” growing at the University of Jordan Station, Jordan Valley. Mite specimens were collected and microscopically examined. Cytochrome oxidase I was sequenced to confirm identity and compare to other accessioned Raoiella sequences. Based on morphological and molecular characterization, identity was confirmed to be R. indica. The molecular characterization of the mite showed 99% similarity to accessions that originated from United Arab Emirates and Iran. To our knowledge, this is the first record of red date palm mite in Jordan on date palm trees.
http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A44D3E74-A69C-488C-8638-1B7EB1177146
Acknowledgments
Authors would like to thank Eng. Huda Al-Hiary for helping in DNA extraction. Authors would also like to thank Dr. Nehaya Al-Karablieh for using her laboratory at Hamdi Mango Center for Scientific Research (HMCSR) to quantify the DNA using the Nanodrop ND-1000 Spectrophotometer.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.