Taxonomic revision of Brachytydeus Thor 1931 sensu Andre 2005 (Acari: Tydeidae: Tydeinae) species associated with Hevea spp. in Brazil

• Grant number: 13/18265-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Reinaldo José Fazzio Feres
• Grantee: Alexandre de Souza Mondin
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Brachytydeus Thor (1931) includes more than 170 species worldwide distributed. It is commonly found on mite fauna surveys on rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis Muell Arg.) of Brazil. The genus is not much known and some species collected are not identified nominally, being nominated just as morfospecies. The genus Lorryia was proposed by Oudemans (1925) based on L. superba (type species of the genus), and differed from Tydeus by the dorsal ornamentation of the idiossoma: Lorryia presents reticulated pattern, while Tydeus has a striated pattern. Nowadays, the genera are differentiated by the chaetotaxy of the legs. Andre (2005) proposed that Brachytydeus was considered senior synonym of Lorryia, because the species designated as Lorryia by Kazmierski (1998) had the same chaetotaxy of Tydeus cruciatus Koch (1838), the type species of Brachytydeus Thor (1931). Thus, Lorryia was considered as a monoespecific genus, containing just the type species representing it. These changes are not followed by all taxonomists and the recent mite fauna surveys do not consider the propose, despite being the most recent and well based one. A problem of Tydeidae is the difficulties on the identification of the specimens at species level, since there is a scarcity of specialists on the group in Brazil, also there is an elevated number of morfoespecies registered on surveys. Furthermore, B. formosus is the only nominal species nominated for rubber trees crops, and it is possible that a lot of these specimens have been misidentified and be more than one species. On the other hand, another ones admitted belonging to different species, are not nominally identified. Thus, the project will emphasize the taxonomic revision of species of Brachytydeus associated on wild and cultivated rubber trees, proceeding with the correct identification of the species of the genus, as well as generating new descriptions. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MONDIN, ALEXANDRE DE SOUZA; NUVOLONI, FELIPE MICALI; FAZZIO FERES, REINALDO JOSE. Four new species of Lorryia (Acari: Tydeidae) associated with Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) in Brazil. Zootaxa, v. 4158, n. 4, p. 473-490, AUG 31 2016. (13/18265-0, 10/19935-1)

NUVOLONI, FELIPE M.; MONDIN, ALEXANDRE DE S.; FERES, REINALDO J. F.. Review of Lorryia Oudemans, 1925 (Acari: Tydeidae: Tydeinae) associated with Hevea spp. in Brazil. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ACAROLOGY, v. 46, n. 4, p. 235-240, MAY 18 2020. (10/19935-1, 13/18265-0)