A LITTLE KNOWN MODE OF DISPERSAL OF ...

Vol. 16, No. 3: 181-182, 1990

International Journal of Acarology

181

A LITTLE KNOWN MODE OF DISPERSAL OF POLYPHAGOTARSONEMUS LATUS (BANKS)

Carlos H.W. Flechtmann1, José M. Guerrero 2, José A. Arroyave3 & Luis M. Constantino 3 1. Department of Zoology, ESALQ, University of Sao Paulo – 13.400, Piracicaba, S.P., BRAZIL., 2. Cassava Program, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical- CIAT, Cali, COLOMBIA., 3. Virology Unit, CIAT, Cali, COLOMBIA

ABSTRACT – Females of Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) were found attached to the tarsi and tibiae of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), on beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in screenhouse at CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical) in Cali, Colombia.

Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks, 1909) (Acari:Prostigmata:Tarsonemidae) known as broad mite, yellow tea mite and tropical mite is distributed in the field throughout the tropics and greenhouses in cooler areas on a wide variety of agricultural crops, ornamental and wild plants. It is believed that the females and larvae do not tend to wander from the leaf where they are located although colonies disappear from mature leaves and become established on terminals or young leaves. The males transfer the colony from mature to young leaves by carrying female nymphs as they wander about (Jeppson et al., 1975). The main means of dispersal is probably transport by wind. Gupta and Chaudhri (1972) stated that P. latus is a predator of the whitefly, Bemisia gossyperda Misra and Lamb (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) and thought it might be effective in biological control of this pest of cotton in India. Lindquist (1986), however, pointed out that these observations require confirmation. Observations of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) on beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.,) in the screenhouse at CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical) in Cali, Colombia which were also infested by the broad mite, and in field on the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris Schrad) in Zulia, Venezuela, showed P. latus females attached to the tarsi and tibiae of the whiteflies. The females of P. latus were clinging to the legs of the insect with their pair of legs (Figs.1-4). The association of P. latus with the whitefly is considered to be phoretic.

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Figures 1-4. Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) – Females attached to a leg (tarsus and tibia) of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (JSM-820 Scanning Electron Microscope 1 (x 130), 2 (x 300), 3 (x 140), 4 (x 330). REFERENCES Gupta, P.C. and H.S. Chaudhri. 1972. New record of Hemitarsonemus latus Banks (Tarsonemidae) as a parasite of Bemisia gossyperda M. & L. Indian J. Entomol., 33:476. Jeppson, L.P., H.H. Keifer and W.W. Baker. 1975. Mites injurious to economic plants. University of California Press, 644 pp + 74 plates. Lindquist, E.E. 1986. The world genera of Tarsonemidae (Acari: Heterostigmata): a morphological, phylogenetic and systematic revision, with a reclassification of family-group taxa in the Heterostigmata. Mem. Entomol. Soc. Canada, 136: 1-517. Natarajan, K. 1988. Transport of yellow mite Polyphagotarsonemus lattus by cotton whitefly. Current Sci. 57(20): 1142-1143.

1990