Ontogeny and Chaetotaxy of Mononychellus Tanajoa Bondar Infesting Cassava Crops in Rivers State, Nigeria

The ontogeny of body setae in the immature stages of Mononychelust anajoa in Rivers state, Nigeria was studied. Setal counts on the life stages (larva, protonymph, deutonymph and adult) from laboratory cultured specimens showed a constant number of 13 pairs of setae on the dorsal idiosoma from larval to adult instars, while there was a progressive addition of setae on both the ventral idiosoma and leg segments. Complete setal formulae for the leg segments for all the instars are presented