neotype designation with first description of a male

A BSTRACT — Yi-Hsiung Tseng provided fundamental information of phytoseiid fauna in Taiwan. However, according to an exclusive interview, all specimens included in Tseng’s collections were lost after his retirement; therefore, more than 20 holotypes are now lost. To ensure stability in nomenclature, designation of neotypes is thus necessary. In this study, we re-described a known species, Amblyseius bellatulus Tseng 1983, by collecting phytoseiid mites from the original type locality and the entirely of Taiwan. Because the morphology of the collected specimens is highly similar to that of specimens used for describing the species, we designated a neotype and redescribed female specimens, as well as male specimens, which have not been described before.


INTRODUCTION
Phytoseiid mites have received considerable attention because of their biocontrol potential. Some species can feed on phytophagous mites and small pests (McMurtry et al., 2013). So far, more than 2,700 species included in 91 genera and 3 subfamilies have been recorded worldwide (Chant and Mc-Murtry, 2007;Demite et al., 2015). Fifty-three species are recorded from Taiwan (Ehara, 1970;Lo, 1970;Tseng, 1972;1973;1975;1976;Chang and Tseng, 1978;Tseng, 1983;Ho and Lo, 1989;Ho et al., 2003). Yi-Hsiung Tseng provided the most complete survey of phytoseiid mites in this country from the 1970s to the early 1980s; he recorded 47 species including 20 newly described endemic ones. Collec-tions of Tseng, including type specimens, were deposited at the Tainan Branch of the Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine (BCIQ) (Tseng, 1983). However, the Tainan Branch of BCIQ no longer possesses Tseng's collections and type specimens. The plant and animal quarantine work was transferred from Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine to the newly established Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) since 1998 and BCIQ was renamed to Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI). Y. H. Tseng retired from BSMI in 2008. The profile column of BAPHIQ Quarterly, a journal issued by BAPHIQ, had interviewed Yi-Hsiung Tseng in 2009 due to his great contribution to plant quarhttp://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/acarologia/ ISSN 0044-586-X (print). ISSN 2107-7207 (electronic) antine and talked about the mite collection of him. Tseng mentioned that he had discarded the whole mite collection of him after his retirement (BAPHIQ, 2009). The present work aims to retrieve specimens collected by Tseng to reconstitute his collection. It is thus the first step of further taxonomical studies.
Some species of Amblyseius are considered as generalist predators, they can feed on wide range preys, and can sometimes feed on pollens (Mc-Murtry et al., 2013). In Taiwan, Ho and Chen (2001) reported that A. bellatulus and A. maai Tseng (=A. tamatavensis Bloommers) fed on melon thrips from cucumbers in the field. Field observation in Taiwan also reveals other that Amblyseius species (e.g., A. eharai Amitai & Swirski, A. herbicolus (Chant)) feed on spider mites and whiteflies. We consider Amblyseius species play an important role in controlling phytophagous mites and small insects. Correct identification and type references are thus essential.
Naming a neotype to ascertain its identity and noting the conditions required by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for such designation are necessary. Some examples already exist in the Taxonomy history of the family Phytoseiidae. Duso and Fontana (2001) reported for instance well-known controversy regarding the identity of Phytoseius plumifer (Canestrini & Fanzago) resulting from the loss of type materials. After the original description, many Acarologists subsequently provided controversial descriptions for this species on the basis of their specimens. Duso and Fontana (2001) investigated the type locality and designated a neotype for this species to solve the problem. By contrast, Thor (1930) described Lasioseius (Lasioseius) magnanalis Thor from Svalbard but did not designate any type materials. Chant (1959) moved the species "magnanalis" into family Phytoseiidae but he considered this species dubious because of the vague original description. Kolodochka and Gwiazdowicz (2014) discussed the fate of Thor's specimens as all specimens were lost after he died. They designated a neotype Neoseiulus magnanalis (Thor) to clarify its identity.
To collect the species described by Y. H. Tseng, we conducted a survey in entire Taiwan and surrounding islands. Concurrently, we also tried to collect phytoseiid mites in type localities and type habitat plants. However, we faced some difficulties because of typing errors in the names of the localities of collection, the old vague phonetic English transcription of the localities, and the use of general descriptive terms for plants (e.g., weeds, grasses). In addition, landscape greatly changed in the past 30 years. Nonetheless, we have found specimens that are nearly consistent with description of A. bellatulus by Tseng (1983). Tseng (1983) provided a critical description and illustration of A. bellatullus, but there is some lacking information regarding the characters and measurements that are currently used in phytoseiid species descriptions. We thus re-described Amblyseius bellatulus adding characteristics that were not described in Tseng (1983) and we designated the specimens collected as neotype. These specimens were compared to the elements provided in Tseng (1983). In addition, a description of the male (unknown until now) is provided.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The specimens examined in this study were collected from various plants.
Specimens were mounted in Hoyer's medium; also poor condition specimens were soaked with water, bleached by high concentration (50%) H 2 O 2 until the cuticle color change back to normal condition, rinsed in ethanol (75%) (Yeh et al., 2008), and remounted in Hoyer's medium. Specimens examined under an optical microscope (Olympus BX51), and measured using stage-calibrated ocular micrometers and Im-ageJ 1.47 (Schneider et al., 2012). All measurements provided are in micrometers, neotype measurements are shown in bold type followed by their mean and range (in parentheses). The general terminology used for morphological descriptions in this study follows that of Chant and McMurtry (2007), while for the dorsal and ventral chaetotaxy we followed Rowell et al. (1978) and Yoshida-Shaul (1991, 1992); for adenotaxy and poroidotaxy terminology we followed Beard (2001).
If necessary, the locality names were translated using the Geographic Name Information System, Department of Land Administration, Ministry of the Interior (Taiwan) (http://gn.moi.gov.tw/geonames/Translation/Tra nslation.aspx). The distribution map was prepared using the SimpleMappr program (Shorthouse, 2010), based on the label data of examined material in this study. A. bellatulus to clarify its taxonomic status and provide a complete description. Additionally, as male specimens were not known, we provide male description for the first time.
By comparing the collection records of this A. bellatulus, we observed that this species was mostly collected from central Taiwan; however, one spec-imen was collected from northern Taiwan and another from eastern Taiwan. Therefore, this species may be more widely distributed than is evident from the collection. We also observed A. bellatulus occurred on various plants, although these mites mostly inhabit weeds, they also inhabit some economically valuable plants (e.g., corn plants, egg-plants, and guava). Ho and Chen (2001) reported that A. bellatulus could prey on melon thrips (Thrips palmi) in the field. Therefore, we consider A. bellatulus need further experiments for confirmation of the biocontrol potential.