Abstract
Four new species groups of the Tenuipalpus sensu lato group are proposed in the present study based on the total number of dorsal opisthosomal setae, namely, carolinensis with ten pairs of setae (214 species), dubinini with nine pairs of setae (33 species), granati with eight pairs of setae (29 species), and barticanus with seven pairs of setae (7 species) Additionally, diagnostic keys to species groups and 273 species of the Tenuipalpus sensu lato are provided. Three species, T. lustrabilis Chaudhri, T. guptai Sadana and Gupta, and T. solanensis Sadana and Gupta, are synonymized with T. punicae Pritchard and Baker. One species, T. rodionovi Chalilova, is suggested as a junior synonym of T. granati Sayed, and eight species, T. chiococcae De Leon, T. costarricensis Salas and Ochoa, T. ephedrae Livschitz and Mitrofanov, T. molinai Evans, T. santae Manson, T. simplychus Cromroy, T. tetrazygiae De Leon, and T. oxalis (Flechtmann), belonging to the carolinensis species group, are not included in the key. Furthermore, a new species of Tenuipalpus sensu lato, T. jazanensis sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on females collected from the Chamaerops spp. (Arecaceae).