TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - First records of Aculus taihangensis, a potential biological control agent of Tree of Heaven, in the United States
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 282
EP  - 282
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Biljana, Vidović
AU  - Tatjana, Cvrković
AU  - Marie-Claude, Bon
AU  - Nikola, Anđelković
AU  - Radmila, Petanović
AU  - Francesca, Marini
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/06bj-w4r5
DO  - 10.24349/06bj-w4r5
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Ailanthus altissima
KW  - Eriophyid mites
KW  - mtCOI
KW  - CVA
AB  - Ailanthus altissima (Tree of heaven, TOH) is a highly invasive species worldwide. Originally from China, it poses a serious threat to ecosystems wherever it has been introduced.Three eriophyid mite species have been described on TOH from type localities in China: Aculus altissimae Xue & Hong, Aculops ailanthi Lin, and Aculus taihangensis (Hong & Xue, 2005). The former is only recorded in China, whereas the latter have also been found in the U.S.A. and Europe, respectively. Both A. ailanthi and Ac. taihangensis are promising candidate biological control agents of TOH. In particular, Ac. taihangensis causes severe leaf deformation, drying, and necrosis of the growing tips. Despite their morphological similarity, these species can be distinguished by the pattern of the prodorsal shield, the appearance of the genital coverflap, and the number of rays on the empodium. The present study aimed to determine whether Ac. taihangensis is also present in the U.S.A. Material for the morphometric and molecular analyses comprised six eriophyid mite populations collected from TOH in Italy and Slovenia, as well as from Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Colorado in the U.S.A. Multivariate analyses (MANOVA and CVA) were conducted to assess and visualise morphological variation among the populations. The mtCOI was amplified and sequenced to investigate genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among populations. Newly generated sequences were analyzed alongside available Ac. taihangensis sequences from the Chinese provinces of Shandong, Henan, and Zhejiang. Phylogenetic reconstruction was performed using a Maximum Likelihood approach, with Aculus ichnocarpi and Aculus amygdali designated as outgroup taxa. Analysis of the mtCOI dataset identified six haplotypes among the examined populations with the four from the U.S.A. sharing a single haplotype. Phylogenetic reconstruction placed all specimens within a strongly supported clade corresponding to Ac. taihangensis (99% bootstrap support). Within this clade, two principal maternal lineages were resolved. The first included populations from the U.S.A., the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Henan, and Slovenia. The second grouped Italian populations with the one from Zhejiang province in China. Although no genetic divergence consistent with species-level differentiation was detected, morphometric variation was observed among certain Ac. taihangensis populations. Taken together, these findings show that the analysed populations belong to a single species exhibiting phenotypic plasticity across in reproductively isolated populations. They also provide molecular confirmation of the presence of Ac. taihangensis in the U.S.A. and reveal geographically structured maternal lineages within the species.
ER -