Two new alien Eutetranychus mites (Prostigmata, Tetranychidae) for Madeira Island, Portugal

Abstract

Two field surveys on agricultural and non-agricultural plants in Madeira Island, and examination of slides of the Laboratório de Qualidade Agrícola (LQA, Madeira) collection, disclosed two species belonging to the genus Eutetranychus: the Texas citrus mite Eutetranychus banksi, associated with Citrus x aurantium, Citrus limon, Citrus reticulata, Phaseolus vulgaris (new host record), Plumeria rubra and Ricinus communis, and the African red mite Eutetranychus africanus on Citrus medica (new host record), Carica papaya, Vitis vinifera and R. communis. Both species are new records for Madeira Island, and this is the first record of E. africanus for a European country. Molecular analysis (18S rRNA gene) of E. africanus confirmed morphological identification. This integrative approach of comparing morphological and molecular characters with validated references allowed us to reliably identify this species, which has repeatedly been misidentified in the past.