Integrative morphometric and molecular evidence of host specialization and cryptic speciation in leaf blister mites (Eriophyes spp.) infesting rosaceous hosts

These datasets contain the raw molecular and morphometric data used in an integrative taxonomic study of blister-forming eriophyoid mites of the genus Eriophyes, key pests of rosaceous plants. The study focused on populations associated with Malus domestica, Pyrus spp., and Sorbus aucuparia, combining mitochondrial COI and nuclear D2 region of 28S rDNA sequences from multiple populations with multivariate morphometric analyses based on 28 quantitative morphological characters. Phylogenetic reconstruction and bPTP species delimitation revealed strong host-associated genetic structuring and up to seven deeply divergent evolutionary lineages, with COI resolving several host-specific, highly divergent clades and the more conserved D2 marker supporting major host-associated groupings but recovering fewer lineages, indicative of mito–nuclear discordance. These datasets were used for morphometric analyses, which showed statistically significant differentiation among host-associated populations, although extensive overlap in diagnostic characters, particularly between pear- and rowan-associated mites, points to cryptic speciation, whereas apple-associated mites exhibited clearer morphological differentiation concordant with molecular clustering. Overall, the data document that leaf blister mites on rosaceous hosts represent a complex of distinct, host-specialized species and provide a reference for future work on eriophyoid taxonomy, species delimitation, vector identification, and improved pest management.