Geographical distribution and association with host plants of Tenuipalpidae (Prostigmata: Tetranychoidea)

• Grant number: 24/23659-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Elizeu Barbosa de Castro
• Grantee: Joice de Araujo Felix
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06373-0 - Phylogeny, ontogeny and occurrence of Tenuipalpidae (Arachnida: Acari: Prostigmata: Tetranychoidea), an important family of plant-feeding mites, AP.JP

Abstract

Tenuipalpidae (Trombidiformes: Prostigmata) includes more than 1,100 species of plant mites distributed in 41 genera. The family includes species that cause significant economic damage to commercially cultivated and ornamental plants worldwide. Despite their economic importance, tenuipalpids remain poorly studied and understood.Tenuipalpidae may occur in a restricted region or have a cosmopolitan distribution. Variation in host preference can also be observed in different groups of the family. They may have a preference for certain families, genera or species of plants, or occur on hundreds of plants from different families. Thus, this project aims to investigate patterns of geographic distribution and association with host plants of this group of mites using information available in the Tenuipalpidae database and comparative biology methods, placing them in their macroevolutionary context. (AU)