A greater blue-eared glossy starling Lamprotornis chalybaeus Ehrenburg from a large flight aviary in Hong Kong was found on post mortem to be infected with Plasmodium octamerium Manwell, 1968, Plasmodium cf. relictum (Grassi et Feletti, 1891) and Haemoproteus cf. pastoris Mello, 1935. Descriptions of their morphology are provided as none of the examined parasites fully concord with their type (or neotype) material descriptions. Plasmodium octamerium has been recorded in avian hosts from geographically distant locations, suggesting that infection in imported hosts may persist in a chronic state for a long period. This Plasmodium species as well as P. relictum are evidently not fastidious in choice of passeriform hosts and are transmitted by ubiquitous domestic mosquito vectors, apparently facilitating their proliferation among zoo and aviary inhabitants. The Haemoproteus infection appears to be conspecific with H. cf. pastoris reported from a myna (Acridotheres tristis) in Singapore. Mynas are also common in Hong Kong, which suggests a possible cross-transmission of infection between these two starlings.
Two new species of the subfamily Picobiinae (Acari: Prostigmata: Syringophilidae) are described: Picobia ploceus sp. n. from Ploceus ocularis Smith (Passeriformes: Ploceidae) and Picobia lamprotornis sp. n. from Lamprotornis superbus (Rüppell) (Passeriformes: Sturnidae), both from Kenya. Additionally, new hosts are recorded: Turdoides jardineii (Smith) (Passeriformes: Leiothrichidae) from Kenya and Tanzania, T. rubiginosa (Rüppell) from Kenya, T. leucopygia (Rüppell) from Zambia and Namibia, for Picobia dziabaszewskii Glowska, Dragun-Damian et Dabert, 2012; Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines) (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae) from Kenya, for Picobia pycnonoti Glowska, Skoracki et Khourly, 2007; Dendropicos griseocephalus (Boddaert) (Piciformes: Picidae) from Tanzania and D. goertae (St. Müller) from Kenya, for Neopicobia freya Skoracki et Unsoeld, 2014; Dendropicos fuscescens (Vieillot) from Zambia and Campethera nubica (Boddaert) from Kenya, for Picobia dryobatis (Fritsch, 1958).