Spider Mites Web taxon

Tetranychus Dufour, 1832 [genus and subgenera]

Classification

Tetranychidae - Tetranychinae - Tetranychini

Accepted name

Tetranychus Dufour, 1832. Dufour (1832): 276

Notes: Meyer (1987) made the following analysis:
The genus Tetranychus may be recognized by a single pair of para-anal setae; empodia split into 3 pairs of proximoventral hairs (2 pairs in one case); empodia may possess mediodorsal spurs. shorter than proximoventral hairs; male empodium I usually bearing tridigitate spurs; aedeagus bends dorsad and is important for species identification; shape of lobes on the integumentary striae can be used to separate most species.
Wainstein (1960b) divided this genus into 7 subgenera on the arrangement of the empodial rays, the peritremes and the colour of the feeding females. Tuttle & Baker (1968) recognized only the following 3 subgenera on the basis of the female dorsal striation pattern: Tetranychus s.str., Polynychus Wainstein and Armenychus Wainstein. Since 1968 many authors have followed the classification of Tuttle & Baker. Mitrofanov (1977) attached great significance to the female striation pattern and grouped species of Tetranychus and Oligonychus with similar patterns together. This gave generic status to Polynychus but Armenychus became a subgenus of Amphitetranychus Oudemans, having previously been a synonym of Tetranychus. Mitrofanov also considered Reckiella Tuttle & Baker a subgenus of Polynychus and not of Oligonychus.
Helle, Bolland & Heitmans (1981) pointed out that subgeneric divisions in Tetranychus could not be supported by chromosome numbers because these varied among species in the same subgenus. They considered the subgenera of Tetranychus more of practical than of phylogenetic value.
As in Oligonychus, the female striation pattern in Tetranychus is not a stable character. The subgenus Tetranychus s.str. is defined as having longitudinal striae and a diamond-shaped figure between the third (e1) and fourth (f1) pairs of dorsocentral setae. However, in T. margaretae Meyer. T. elyptropappi Meyer. T. zambezianus Meyer & Rodrigues, T. rooyenae Meyer and T. joanni Meyer, which have a distinct diamond-shaped pattern, the striae between the third pair of dorsocentral setae vary from transverse, irregular to longitudinal. In T. panici Gutierrez, T. angolensis Meyer and T. attiahi Zaher, Gomaa & El-Enany, which have an ill-defined diamond-shaped figure, the striae between the third pair of dorsocentral setae are transverse to irregular. This extends to the fourth pair of dorsocentral setae in T. attiahi. There is no diamond-shaped figure in T. saredi Baker & Pritchard, T. andrei Baker & Pritchard or T. macfarlanei Baker & Pritchard and the striae between the third pair of dorsocentral setae vary from irregular to longitudinal. In T. macfarlanei irregular striae are also found between the fourth pair of dorsocentral setae. In all these species, it is difficult to separate subgenera and in my opinion the use of such variable characters without other supporting differences cannot be justified for subgeneric let alone generic divisions.

The genus Tetranychus comprises 156 species.

Subgenera

Tetranychus (Armenychus) Dufour, 1832. Wainstein (1960a): 160

The genus Tetranychus (Armenychus) comprises 0 species.

Tetranychus (Tetranychus) Dufour, 1832. Dufour (1832): 276

The genus Tetranychus (Tetranychus) comprises 1 species.

Original description

Tetranychus Dufour, 1832. Dufour (1832): 276

Summary

Nomenclature and taxonomy

Tetranychus Dufour, 1832. Valid nomenclatural act Dufour (1832): 276
Distigmatus Donnadieu, 1875. Synonym description Donnadieu (1875): 118
Tetranychus (Epitetranychus) Zacher, 1916. Synonym description Zacher (1916): 24
Septanychus McGregor, 1919. Synonym description McGregor (1919): 663
Distigmatus Donnadieu, 1875. Synonymy by Pritchard & Baker (1955): 374
Septanychus McGregor, 1919. Synonymy by Pritchard & Baker (1955): 374
Tetranychus (Epitetranychus) Zacher, 1916. Synonymy by Pritchard & Baker (1955): 372
Tetranychus (Pentanychus) Wainstein, 1960. Synonym description Wainstein (1960a): 160
Tetranychus (Peusdonychus) Wainstein, 1960. Synonym description Wainstein (1960a): 162
Tetranychus (Polynychus) Wainstein, 1960. Synonym description Wainstein (1960a): 160
Tetranychus (Septanychus) McGregor, 1919. Change of status Wainstein (1960a): 161
Pritchardina Rimando, 1962. Synonym description Rimando (1962b): 26
Tetranychus (Pritchardina) Rimando, 1962. Change of status Tseng (1990): 152

Description and nomenclature literature (6 results)

[Taxon description] Dufour (1832)
[Synonym description] Donnadieu (1875) McGregor (1919) Rimando (1962b) Wainstein (1960a) Zacher (1916)

Identification tools

Identification key literature (1 result)

Flechtmann & Knihinicki (2002) Key to the species group [World].

Literature (9 references in chronological order)

Dufour (1832) Description et figure du Tetranychus lintearicus, Arachnide nouvelle de la tribu des Acarides. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris, 25: 276 [description]
Donnadieu (1875) Recherches pour servir à l'histoire des Tétranyques. Annales de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon (n. sér.), 22: 29-136 + planches [description]
Zacher (1916) Zur Kenntnis der Spinnmilben. Mitteilungen aus der Kaiserlichen Biologischen Anstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, 16: 19-25 [description]
McGregor (1919) The red spiders of America and a few European species likely to be introduced. Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, 56: 641-679 [description]
Pritchard & Baker (1955) A revision of the spider mite family Tetranychidae. Memoirs Series, San Francisco, Pacific Coast Entomological Society, 2: 472 p [taxononmy]
Wainstein (1960a) Tetranychoid mites of Kazakhstan (with revision of the family). Trudy Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Zashchita Rastenii Kazakh., 5: 1-276 [description; taxononmy]
Rimando (1962b) The tetranychoid mites of the Philippines. Univ. Philippines Col. Agric. Techn. Bul., 11: 1-52 [description]
Tseng (1990) A monograph of the mite family Tetranychidae (Acarina : Tronbidiformes) from Taiwan. Taiwan Museum Special Publication Series, 9: 1-226 [taxononmy]
Flechtmann & Knihinicki (2002) New species and new record of Tetranychus Dufour from Australia, with a key to the major groups in this genus based on females (Acari: Prostigmata: Tetranychidae). Australian Journal of Entomology, 41: 118-127 [key (World)]

Parent taxon

Tetranychini [tribe]

Child taxons