A re-evaluation of the genera Aplonobia Womersley and Paraplonobia Wainstein (Acari: Tetranychidae) with a description of a new species

• Published in: Acarologia Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. 63 - 75
• Main Authors: Mahdavi, Sayed Mosayeb, Asadi, Mahdieh, Seeman, Owen D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Acarologia 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Life Sciences; Animalia; Acari; Anaplonobia; spider mites; Arthropoda; Amaranthaceae; Haloxylon ammodendron; systematics
• ISSN: 0044-586X; 2107-7207
• DOI: 10.24349/rdn0-84fx

The genera Aplonobia and Paraplonobia are redefined due to confusion surrounding the classification of several morphologically intermediate species. Following our revision of these genera, their distinction is based on the form of the peritremes, which are anastomosing in Aplonobia and simple in Paraplonobia. As a result, the subgenus Paraplonobia (Anaplonobia) is treated as a synonym of Aplonobia and the subgenus Parapolonobia (Brachynychus) is moved to Aplonobia. A new species of Aplonobia, namely Aplonobia aria sp. nov., is also described and illustrated based on females and a deutonymph collected from Haloxylon ammodendron (Amaranthaceae) in Southern Iran (Kerman Province). Aplonobia tabukensis (Kamran and Alatawi, 2016) is also recorded for the first time from Iran. Paraplonobia (Anaplonobia) ambrosiae (Tuttle, Baker and Abbatiello, 1976) [preoccupied by Aplonobia ambrosiae (Tuttle and Baker, 1968)] is renamed Aplonobia neoambrosiae nom. nov.