Increasing knowledge of the mite fauna of the United Arab Emirates: new records and a checklist

A BSTRACT — Mite fauna of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is poorly studied. Based on published works, only 26 species (representing three orders, 18 families and 24 genera) were previously reported from coleopteran insects, plants, leaf litter and soil. This paper reports 11 new records of mites from the emirate of Dubai. A checklist of the taxa reported from the UAE to date is presented.

To my knowledge, there is no taxonomic information source that contains the mite fauna of the UAE. To establish a baseline and enhance knowledge for further work, this paper presents a checklist of mites reported from UAE so far and new mite records.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Samplings were made in January, 2013, from the emirate of Dubai. Mites were sampled by using specialized hand-held aspirators (BioQuip ® , CA, USA) after modifying the collecting chamber by adding a small piece of light cloth. Mite specimens were preserved in plastic vials containing ethyl alcohol (70 %) and then transferred to the Department of Plant Protection, Assiut University, Egypt for examination. Mites were cleared in lactophenol, mounted in Hoyer's medium and studied under a research microscope (BH-2, Olympus ® , Japan).

Cheiroseius nepalensis (Evans and Hyatt, 1960)
Material examined -Four females, Dubai, 12 Jan. Remarks -Mites of the genus Cheiroseius are known to feed on collembolans (Collembola) (Halliday et al., 1998). The present specimens of C. nepalensis (Evans and Hyatt, 1960) were found in association with high populations of collembolans and thrips. This is the first report of this species from the UAE.
Remarks -Mites of the genus Lasioseius occur in various habitats such as plants, soil and leaf litter (Halliday et al., 1998). The original collection of L. youcefi was collected from wet mosses in Algeria (Athias-Henriot, 1959). Walter and Lindquist (1989) redescribed and presented diagnoses for L. berlesei (Oudemans, 1938), L. youcefi and L. confusus Evans, 1958 on the basis of the spermatheca. The species L. youcefi belongs to the subgenus cuspiacus Christian and Karg, 2006, which includes species having mostly acicular dorsal setae and a smaller number of pectinate setae. This is the first report of this species from the UAE.
Remarks -The type specimens of Neoseiulus makuwa were found on Cucumis melo var. makuwa at Kita-usa, Usa, Oita, Kyushu, Japan (Ehara 1972). The two collected females completely fit the original description of Ehara (1972) and the redescription given by Zannou et al. (2006), who reported one female in Africa (Cameroon), on Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asteraceae). This is the first record of this species in UAE.
Distribution -It was reported from Saudi Arabia in the Middle East (Negm et al. 2012a). It has also been recorded in Cameroon, China, Indonesia (Sumatra), Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (Ehara and Amano 2004;Moraes et al. 2004).
Remarks -The original description of Proprioseiopsis asetus is based on material collected on apple, at Kearneysville, West Virginia, USA (Chant 1959). Muma et al. (1970) recorded this species from Florida. This is the first record of this species in UAE. Distribution -This species was reported from Saudi Arabia in the Middle East (Negm et al. 2012a). It is otherwise known from Brazil, Galapagos, Hawaii, Jamaica, Mexico, Taiwan and USA (Moraes et al. 2004).
Remarks -This species was described from Rose mallow, Hibiscus rose-sinensis (Malvaceae) in a greenhouse in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan (Ehara, 1962). It was found predating on citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (McGregor) in Ehime prefecture of Japan (Razaq et al., 2001). This is the first report of the family Cheyletidae from the UAE.
Remarks -The oriental red mite, Eutetranychus orientalis, primarily a pest of citrus, is reported from many parts of the world. This is the first report of this species from the UAE.

Distribution -Cosmopolitan.
Four other species of the families, Anystidae Oudemans, 1936 -genus Paratarsotonus; Caligonellidae Grandjean, 1944 -genus Molothrognathus; Eupodidae Koch, 1842 -genus Eupodes; Tydeidae Kramer, 1877 -genus Tydeus, were herein first recorded from UAE. It has been difficult to determine the species names because of poor taxonomic competences and the few specimens collected for these groups. However, further collaborations with World Acarologists would be very expected to identify these mites. The material examined is as follows:

CONCLUSION
Thirty seven mite species (including 10 unidentified species) have been reported from UAE so far. The mite fauna of this country is still poorly known and it is expected to contain much more species that have to be discovered.