First species of Novophytoptus Roivainen (Eriophyoidea, Phytoptidae) from flower buds of archaic angiosperm Drimys winteri J. R. Forst and G. Forst from Chile: Ancestral association or host shift from monocots?
Abstract
The genus Novophytoptus is a morphologically distinctive and widely distributed phytoptid taxon recorded from all continents except Australia. All previously known species of this genus inhabit the air cavities of stems and leaves of monocotyledonous herbs of the order Poales, where they cause localized parenchymal necrosis visible as “brown stripes” between adjacent veins. Here, we describe a new species, N. floris n. sp., collected in southern Chile from the flower buds of Drimys winteri (Canellales: Winteraceae), a morphologically archaic member of the ancient mesangiosperm clade―magnoliids. This is the only member of the genus known to infest reproductive plant organs of a non-monocot host and the second one recorded from South America. The mites establish large populations within flower buds, block anthesis and induce the formation of subspherical galls. They feed on the cataphylls beneath the calyptra as well as on the tissues of internal juvenile carpels, reprogramming their normal ontogenesis to form irregular cell masses. Disruption of flower development prevents opening, pollination, and fruit formation, thereby reducing the overall seed productivity of the plant. Investigation of the exoskeleton of N. floris n. sp. revealed a well-developed system of cuticular canals of the prosomal glands associated with the mouthparts and presumably involved enzimatic destruction of host plant tissues and gallogenesis. Additionally, a thin, capillary-like esophagus (1 µm in diameter) transitioning into the midgut in the middle of the opisthosoma was visualized. The 28S/Cox1 nucleotide sequences of N. floris n. sp. exhibit a 5–8%/17–20% divergence from congeneric sequences available in GenBank, with the highest similarity observed to N. rostratae from Cyperaceae. The unexpected association of N. floris n. sp. with Drimys raises questions regarding the evolution of host-plant associations within the genus along two alternative trajectories: (1) a rare host shift from monocots to Drimys, driving an increase in parasite complexity from simple parenchymal necrosis to the reprogramming of flower bud tissue development; or (2) an ancestral relict association with basal mesangiosperms, followed by a shift to monocots and the loss of gall-inducing traits. A comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Novophytoptus and a search for new species on both monocot and non-monocot hosts are required to test these hypotheses.
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BibTeX
@article{chetverikov2026first,
title = {{First species of Novophytoptus Roivainen (Eriophyoidea, Phytoptidae) from flower buds of archaic angiosperm Drimys winteri J. R. Forst and G. Forst from Chile: Ancestral association or host shift from monocots?}},
author = {Philipp E Chetverikov and Andrey T Kudryavtzev and Lourdes Peralta-Alba and Francisco Rojas-Espinoza},
journal = {Acarologia},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.24349/pdbm-9lsr},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05775202v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - First species of Novophytoptus Roivainen (Eriophyoidea, Phytoptidae) from flower buds of archaic angiosperm Drimys winteri J. R. Forst and G. Forst from Chile: Ancestral association or host shift from monocots?
AU - Philipp E Chetverikov
AU - Andrey T Kudryavtzev
AU - Lourdes Peralta-Alba
AU - Francisco Rojas-Espinoza
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
JO - Acarologia
DO - 10.24349/pdbm-9lsr
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05775202v1
AB - The genus Novophytoptus is a morphologically distinctive and widely distributed phytoptid taxon recorded from all continents except Australia. All previously known species of this genus inhabit the air cavities of stems and leaves of monocotyledonous herbs of the order Poales, where they cause localized parenchymal necrosis visible as “brown stripes” between adjacent veins. Here, we describe a new species, N. floris n. sp., collected in southern Chile from the flower buds of Drimys winteri (Canellales: Winteraceae), a morphologically archaic member of the ancient mesangiosperm clade―magnoliids. This is the only member of the genus known to infest reproductive plant organs of a non-monocot host and the second one recorded from South America. The mites establish large populations within flower buds, block anthesis and induce the formation of subspherical galls. They feed on the cataphylls beneath the calyptra as well as on the tissues of internal juvenile carpels, reprogramming their normal ontogenesis to form irregular cell masses. Disruption of flower development prevents opening, pollination, and fruit formation, thereby reducing the overall seed productivity of the plant. Investigation of the exoskeleton of N. floris n. sp. revealed a well-developed system of cuticular canals of the prosomal glands associated with the mouthparts and presumably involved enzimatic destruction of host plant tissues and gallogenesis. Additionally, a thin, capillary-like esophagus (1 µm in diameter) transitioning into the midgut in the middle of the opisthosoma was visualized. The 28S/Cox1 nucleotide sequences of N. floris n. sp. exhibit a 5–8%/17–20% divergence from congeneric sequences available in GenBank, with the highest similarity observed to N. rostratae from Cyperaceae. The unexpected association of N. floris n. sp. with Drimys raises questions regarding the evolution of host-plant associations within the genus along two alternative trajectories: (1) a rare host shift from monocots to Drimys, driving an increase in parasite complexity from simple parenchymal necrosis to the reprogramming of flower bud tissue development; or (2) an ancestral relict association with basal mesangiosperms, followed by a shift to monocots and the loss of gall-inducing traits. A comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Novophytoptus and a search for new species on both monocot and non-monocot hosts are required to test these hypotheses.
SN - 0044-586X
SN - 2107-7207
ER -