Morphological ontogeny of Amblydromalus limonicus (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

Abstract

The morphological ontogeny of Amblydromalus limonicus is described in this paper based on laboratory-reared specimens originated from Auckland, New Zealand. Comparisons between A. limonicus and A. lailae from Australia showed that the protonymphs, deutonymphs and adults of these two species are not distinguishable, but unusual differences are present in larvae. The larvae of “A. lailae” by Schicha of Australia were incorrectly associated with other stages of A. lailae and belong to the genus Euseius. The results of this study highlight a neglected area of research in phytoseiid taxonomy: the careful descriptions of immature stages based on reared specimens.