Phylogeny of feather mites of the subfamily Pterodectinae (Acariformes: Proctophyllodidae) and their host associations with passerines (Passeriformes)

Abstract

A phylogenetic hypothesis of the feather mite subfamily Pterodectinae Park et Atyeo, 1971 (Astigmata: Proctophyllodidae), currently including 165 species in 19 genera, was constructed by means of the maximum parsimony approach. It is shown that the proctophyllodid mites characterized by the epigynum fused to epimerites in females and by the absence of terminal membranous extensions of the opisthosoma in males that were arranged by previous authors into two subfamilies, Pterodectinae and Rhamphocaulinae, constitute a common phylogenetic branch within Proctophyllodidae. It is proposed to threat this whole branch as the subfamily Pterodectinae. The subfamily Pterodectinae in the new sense consists of two branches, which are treated as the tribes Pterodectini trib. nov. and Rhamphocaulini Park et Atyeo, 1971 stat. nov. The generic contents of these tribes are rearranged comparing to those in Pterodectinae and Rhamphocaulinae of previous authors. A preliminary hypothesis about the origin and dispersion of Pterodectinae on passerine hosts is proposed. It is suggested that this subfamily originated on the ancestors of Passeriformes. The origin and subsequent diversification of two major phylogenetic branches (Pterodectini and Rhamphocaulini) was related with two main taxonomic grouping of avian hosts, passerines and hummingbirds (Apodiformes: Trochilidae), respectively; although on the latter hosts they are of secondary origin. The phylogeny, host associations and geographic distribution of pterodectines predominately associated with passerines generally correspond to the phylogeny and historical biogeography of the order Passeriformes. The current distribution of pterodectines among passerines was realized by cospeciation with their hosts, and also by numerous cases of switching to new host taxa, mainly within Passeriformes, but also to bird of other orders. Nanopterodectes nom. nov. is proposed for the pterodectine genus Nanodectes Mironov in Mironov et al. 2008b (Acariformes: Proctophyllodidae), which was preoccupied (Rentz 1985; Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae); the sole species of this genus gets a new name Nanopterodectes formicivorae (Mironov, 2008) comb. nov.