A contribution to avian ectoparasite fauna of Turkey: the reports of feather mites and tick on the Great tit (Parus major L.)

Abstract

Birds have a symbiotic relationship with many ectoparasite groups such as chewing lice (Mallophaga: Amblycera, Ischnocera), fleas (Siphonaptera), keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), mites (Acari: Sarcoptiformes, Trombidiformes) and ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae). In fact, this relationship is mainly based on parasitism, but feather mites are mostly classified as commensal ectosymbionts, compared to other parasitic insects and arachnids. This study reports tick and feather mite species detected on a dead specimen of the Great Tit (Parus major L.) that was brought to the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey. As a result of the parasitological examination, the tick samples were identified as Ixodes frontalis (Panzer) and feather mites were identified as Analges mucronatus (Buchholz) and Proctophyllodes stylifer (Buchholz). With this study, A. mucronatus and P. stylifer have been reported for the first time from Turkey, and the feather mite fauna of Turkey has reached 42 identified species.