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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328644
Research Project: Plant Feeding Mite (Acari) Systematics

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Redescription of Tenuipalpus heveae Baker (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) and description of a new species collected on rubber tree from Amazonia, Brazil

Author
item CASTRO, ELIZEU - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
item RAMOS, FELIPE A. - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
item FERES, REINALDO J. - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
item Ochoa, Ronald - Ron
item Bauchan, Gary

Submitted to: Acarologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/2016
Publication Date: 4/20/2017
Citation: Castro, E.B., Ramos, F.M., Feres, R.F., Ochoa, R., Bauchan, G.R. 2017. Redescription of Tenuipalpus heveae Baker (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) and description of a new species collected on rubber tree from Amazonia, Brazil. Acarologia. 57(2):421-458.

Interpretive Summary: Plant feeding mites cause millions of dollars annually to agricultural commodities in direct damage, quarentine and control cost. Several species in the family Tenuipalpidae are important economic pests in the Americas. We describe 1 new species, and redescribed the common species of flat mites associated with rubber trees. In this study we examined the mites affecting rubber trees from Brazil using scanning electron microscopy, and provide details of plant species relationships and descriptions of all stages of development of the mites. Research scientists, growers, and USDA-APHIS will use this information for the identification of potential pests in the U.S.

Technical Abstract: Tenuipalpus heveae Baker, 1945 was described based only from female specimens collected on rubber trees from Belterra, State of Pará, Brazil. However, the original description does not provide essential information, and thus, it may be difficult to correctly identify the species. In this paper, we redescribe the female of T. heveae with additional data (e.g. dorsal and ventral ornamentation, leg chaetotaxy and setal measurements) in a standardized form. In addition, we describe Tenuipalpus vieirae sp. nov. based on females, deutonymphs, protonymphs and larvae collected on Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg. and H. guianensis Aubl. (Euphorbiaceae) from Manaus, State of Amazonas, Brazil. We include detail of ontogenetic changes for all stages of this new species.