New Harpirhynchinae Dubinin (Acariformes: Harpirhynchidae)—intracutaneous and feather-base parasites of birds

Abstract

Seven new species of intracutaneous parasites of the subfamily Harpirhynchinae Dubinin (Acariformes: Cheyletoidea: Harpirhynchidae) are described: Anharpyrhynchus elizae sp. nov. from Cyanocitta cristata (type host), Cyanocitta stelleri (Passeriformes: Corvidae), and Colaptes auratus (Piciformes: Picidae) from the USA; Anharpyrhynchus apodus sp. nov. from Lichmera indistincta (type host) and Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Passeriformes: Meliphagidae) from Australia; Anharpyrhynchus lukoschusi sp. nov. from Manorina flavigula (type host) and Certhionyx pectoralis (Passeriformes: Meliphagidae) from Australia; Fainharpirhynchus legatus sp. nov. from Legatus leucophaius (Passeriformes: Tyrannidae) from Trinidad and Tobago; Fainharpirhynchus mossi sp. nov. from Myiarchus crinitus (Passeriformes: Tyrannidae) from an unknown locality in North America; Perharpyrhynchus caprimulgus sp. nov. from Caprimulgus fossii (Caprimulgidae: Caprimulgiformes) from Mozambique; Perharpyrhynchus elseyornis sp. nov. from Elseyornis melanops (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae) from Australia. Keys to females of the genera Anharpyrhynchus, Fainharpirhynchus, and Perharpyrhynchus are provided and data on hosts and distributions of all known intracutaneous harpirhynchines are summarized. In addition, a new non-subcutaneous harpirhynchine is described: Trichorhynchiella myiarchus sp. nov. from feather bases of Myiarchus crinitus (Passeriformes: Tyrannidae) from an unknown locality in North America.

Mites of the genusHarpyrhynchiellaFain, 1972 (Acariformes: Harpirhynchidae), an example of an unusual mating strategy

“…Anharpirhynchus, Neharpyrhynchus and Trichorhynchiella, live and oviposit within the tritonymphal skin (Bochkov and OConnor 2014;Fritsch 1954;Bochkov and Klompen 2014). I believe that in these mites, copulation probably occurs between adult males and juvenile female stages.…”

“…Among them, representatives of the most diverse genus, Harpyrhynchoides (about 40 species), live on the skin surface; females of three genera live at the base of the host feathers, Metharpyrhynchus (four species), Neharpyrhynchus (15 species) and Trichorhynchiella (three species) and representatives of the remaining seven genera live in the skin of their hosts (Bochkov and Klompen 2014).…”