Abstract

New records and supplementary morphological descriptions of two rarely encountered Trisetacus species from Pinaceae, T. abietis Postner 1968 and T. cedri (Nalepa 1920), are reported. Trisetacus abietis was found in Abkhazia under the needle epidermis of Abies nordmanniana (Steven) Spach, a conifer endemic to the mountainous Asian coast of the Black Sea. Trisetacus cedri was found in buds of introduced Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D. Don) G. Don in Abkhazia and South Africa. It is the only member of Trisetacus known from Cedrus spp. For the first time we provide sequences of two genes (COI and D1–D2 28S) of T. abietis (MN022221, MN025333) and T. cedri (MN022222, MN022223, MN025334, MN025335), along with microphotographs of the damage caused by these mites on their coniferous hosts. Sequences of D1–D2 28S of T. cedri from Abkhazian and South African populations are identical; COI sequences from different populations differ by only one synonymous substitution in a codon for asparagine. Females of T. abietis have long asymmetrical 8/7-rayed empodia, whereas males have shorter symmetrical 6/6-rayed empodia and shorter solenidia ω I. Similar sexual dimorphism in tarsal appendages was previously reported in Novophytoptus, representing an endoparasitic lineage of phytoptids on monocots. In T. cedri, a “long form” and a “short form” of both males and females were detected, suggesting a complex life cycle in this species. The evolution of Trisetacus is discussed within the broader context of the molecular phylogenies of Pinaceae and Eriophyoidea, including estimations of divergence times.