New morphological data for Leonseius regularis (De Leon) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and a description of a new species of the genus from Brazil

[EN] The genus Leonseius Chant & McMurtry (Phytoseiidae: Typhlodrominae) was proposed to accommodate Typhloseiopsis regularis De Leon, 1965, a species with a troubled taxonomic history that was previously classified in the genera Typhlodromus Scheuten, Diadromus Athias-Henriot and Chanteius Wainstein. Due to its Amblyseius-like appearance (long s4, Z4 and Z5, most other setae minute; atypical for a typhlodromine), the poor descriptions of reproductive structures (spermatheca, spermatodactyl), and probably also because at the time it was a monotypic genus, researchers over the years have based the species-level identification of Leonseius regularis mainly on dorsal and ventral idiosomal chaetotaxy and setal length. In a survey of phytoseiid mites conducted in cacao plantations (Theobroma cacao L.: Malvaceae) of the municipality of Ilheus, Bahia, northeastern Brazil, we identified two distinct morphotypes among specimens initially identified as L. regularis. Herein we provide new morphological data for L. regularis to complement the original description and previous redescriptions, and then describe Leonseius elbanhawyi Carvalho, Ferragut & Oliveira sp. nov., from cacao, distinguishing it from L. regularis by its spermatheca and spermatodactyl. Also, the diagnosis of Leonseius is amended.
We thank Laura Leibensperger (Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology Collection of Arachnida; MCZ) for loaning the holotype of L. regularis; Andre S.G. Sousa (UESC) for photographing the holotype of L. regularis and Rodrigo A. de Souza (UESC) for providing the specimens used as the types of the new species; Centro de Microscopia Eletronica, UESC, for help in obtaining photomicrographs of the specimens examined in this study; Rafaela A. da Silva (UESC), Jandir C. Santos (Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, ESALQ, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil), Elizeu B. de Castro (Departamento de Zoologia e Botanica, UNESP, S. J. do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil) and Ronald Ochoa (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, Beltsville, MD, USA) for their assistance in various aspects of this project. This study was financed in part by the Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001, and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq).