New records of feather mites (Sarcoptiformes: Proctophyllodidae) on tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae) from Brazil

Fabio A. Hernandes

doi:10.37486/2675-1305.ec03039

Abstract

Herein, three feather mite species (Analgoidea: Proctophyllodidae) are reported from tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae) in Brazil: Proctophyllodes thraupis Atyeo & Braasch, 1966 on Thraupis ornata (Sparrman, 1789), Thraupis palmarum (Wied, 1821), and Stilpnia peruviana (Desmarest, 1806); Amerodectes thraupicola (Černý, 1974) and Amerodectes bilineatus (Berla, 1958) on T. ornata. Proctophyllodes thraupis is herein reported for the first time on the hosts mentioned above. Amerodectes thraupicola is reported in synoxenism with A. bilineatus on the same bird specimen of T. ornata, a new host for both mites. Despite being described from a Cardinalidae (Passeriformes) host, this latter mite species was subsequently recovered only from tanagers, which reinforces the suggestion that non-thraupid hosts might be accidental records.

Highlights

Feather mites (Sarcoptiformes: Astigmata) are permanent, obligate ectosymbionts (Doña et al 2019) associated with all major groups of birds (Gaud & Atyeo 1996)
Three new records of feather mites are presented from tanagers (Thraupidae) in Brazil
Remarks: This species was described from Thraupis episcopus (Linnaeus, 1766) in Suriname (Černý 1974), and later reported on the same host in Brazil, in addition to Thraupis cyanoptera (Vieillot, 1817), T. palmarum, and T. sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) from Brazil (Valim & Hernandes 2010)

Summary

Introduction

Feather mites (Sarcoptiformes: Astigmata) are permanent, obligate ectosymbionts (Doña et al 2019) associated with all major groups of birds (Gaud & Atyeo 1996). Feather mites were reported in Brazil from 32 tanager species (Thraupidae), mostly belonging to the families Proctophyllodidae Trouessart & Mégnin, 1884, Trouessartiidae Gaud, 1957, Analgidae Trouessart & Mégnin, 1884, Psoroptoididae Gaud, 1958, and Dermationidae Fain, 1965. From 14 of these birds, 13 mite species have been nominally described or reported in Brazil (Valim et al 2011; Enout et al 2012; Hernandes 2014; Hernandes & Valim 2014; Daud et al 2015; Silva et al 2015; Hernandes et al 2016; Hernandes & Flechtmann 2020).

Results

Conclusion