TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - A review of occurrences, molecular characterisation, and bioecology studies on Euseius citrifolius Denmark and Muma: an emerging biological control agent in Neotropical Region
VL  - 66
IS  - 4
SP  - 909
EP  - 928
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Hernandes, Leticia Molina
AU  - Lofego, Antonio Carlos
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/1031-yup9
DO  - 10.24349/1031-yup9
DA  - 2026-10-07
ET  - 2026-10-07
KW  - predatory mite
KW  - biological control
KW  - neotropical
KW  - generalist mites
AB  - The predatory mite Euseius citrifolius Denmark & Muma (Phytoseiidae) has several interesting characteristics that make it suitable for use as a biological control agent, including a rapid life cycle, a diverse diet, and a wide geographic distribution across both cultivated and uncultivated plants. In addition, several studies have been conducted on the biology and predatory capacity of this species, indicating that it may play a significant role as a biological control agent primarily for Tenuipalpidae mites on rubber, citrus and coconut crops. Thus, the objective of this study was to compile the available information in the literature to support potential biological control actions. To this end, research was conducted using the species name in various databases, including scientific articles, theses, and dissertations. A total of 104 publications were found related to three topics: occurrence and distribution, morphological and molecular characterisation, and bioecology. For the first topic, 89 articles were identified, which correspond to 85% of the publications that cite E. citrifolius, showing the distribution of this species in some countries in Neotropics and occurrence on a wide variety of plants, including co-occurrence with pest mites. For morphological and molecular characterisation, 15 articles were found, and on biology, nine articles were found. Therefore, we can observe that there is a robust set of records of the occurrence of this predatory mite especially in Brazil, with consolidated taxonomic studies, and with some initial works on bioecology, which present promising results regarding the potential of E. citrifolius as a biological control agent. Therefore, we can conclude that there is still a great opportunity for studies related to bioecology and techniques of using this species in biological control programs, whether applied or, primarily, in conservation control.
ER -