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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #423557
Research Project: Systematics of Acari and Hemiptera: Plant Pests, Predators, and Disease Vectors

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new genus of flat mites (Acariformes Tenuipalpidae), with the description of three new species from Brazil

Author
item CASTRO, E. - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item TASSI, ALINE - Universidad De Sao Paulo
item MACHADO, VINICIUS - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item Ochoa, Ronald
item BEARD, J. - University Of Maryland
item SEEMAN, OWEN - Queensland Museum
item LOFEGO, ANTONIO - Universidad De Sao Paulo

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/22/2025
Publication Date: 6/25/2025
Citation: Castro, E.B., Tassi, A., Machado, V.B., Ochoa, R., Beard, J.J., Seeman, O., Lofego, A. 2025. A new genus of flat mites (Acariformes Tenuipalpidae), with the description of three new species from Brazil. Zootaxa. 5653(1):33–62. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5653.1.2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5653.1.2

Interpretive Summary: The flat mite family is a large and important group of plant feeders associated with crops, grasses, ornamentals and fruit trees. We are reporting for the first time new members of a small species group, previously only known from Africa and Asia, in the Neotropical Region. We describe three new species and provide a diagnostic key for the species collected in areas of the Cerrado biome in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Two of the species were associated with small flowering plants and the third species with a grass. The concern is that flat mites have been associated with viruses and other diseases that affect many important crops including citrus and coffee plants. In the Americas, millions of dollars are spent each year to control these mites.

Technical Abstract: A new genus, Ueckermannopalpus gen. nov. Castro, Seeman & Beard, is proposed to include three new species, Ueckermannopalpus mineirus sp. nov., U. cerradoensis sp. nov., and U. unguibus sp. nov. from Brazil, and two species moved from the genus Amblypalpus, Ueckermannopalpus thymus (Farzan, Asadi & Ueckermann) comb. nov. and U. iraniensis (Farzan, Asadi & Ueckermann) comb. nov., from Iran. Based on these new combinations, a new diagnosis is provided for a reduced concept of the genus Amblypalpus, which now comprises just three species, Amblypalpus narsikulovi Mitrofanov & Strunkova, A. masakii (Ehara & Ueckermann) and A. thomissus Meyer.