A new feather mite species, Dolichodectes hispanicus sp. n. (Astigmata: Proctophyllodidae), is described from the Melodious Warbler Hippolais polyglotta (Vieillot) (Passeriformes: Acrocephalidae) in Spain. The new species is closest to the type species of the genus, D. edwardsi (Trouessart, 1885) from the Grear Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus (Linnaeus) (Acrocephalidae). Adults of D. hispanicus differ from those of D. edwardsi by dimensional characteristics, in particular, by having shorter aedeagus that does not extend to the anal suckers in males and shorter hysteronotal shield in females. Tritonymphs of D. hispanicus are much more distinctive and differ from those of D. edwardsi by having the prodorsal shield covering all the prodorsum, the hysteronotal shield occupying about three quarters of the hysterosoma, and idiosomal setae h3 being filiform. The morphological description of the new species is augmented by sequence data from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene fragment (COI)., Sergey V. Mironov, Jorge Doña, Roger Jovani., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cuculisyringophilus crotophaginus gen. n. et sp. n. is described from the guira cuckoo Guira guira (Gmelin) from Paraguay and also was collected from the groove-billed ani Crotophaga sulcirostris Swainson from Colombia and Mexico. This new genus is closely related to Neoaulobia Fain, Bochkov et Mironov, 2000 but is distinguished by the following characters: propodosomal setae sce are situated distinctly anterior to level of setae d1, leg setae vs'II are absent, apodemes I are divergent.
Rhinozachvatkinia calonectris sp. n., a new species of the feather mite genus Rhinozachvatkinia Mironov, 1989 (Avenzoariidae: Bonnetellinae), is described from two species of shearwaters in the North-East of the Atlantic Ocean, Calonectris edwardsii (Oustalet) (type host) and Calonectris borealis (Cory) (Procellariiformes: Procellariidae). We completed the morphological description of this new feather mite species with sequence data on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene fragment (COI). The full generic status of Rhinozachvatkinia, originally established as a subgenus of Zachvatkinia Dubinin, 1949, is formally fixed and its systematic relationships are briefly discussed.
The adults of Trichosurolaelaps dixous Domrow, 1972 are redescribed from a population of Trichosurus cunninghami Lindenmayer, Dubach et Viggers, 2002 in south-eastern Australia. The nymphal stages are described for the first time. Morphologically, T. dixous is similar to Trichosurolaelaps crassipes Womersley, 1956. Morphological differences between the pre-female deutonymphs and adult females of the two mite species are the presence of a single large ventral spur on tibia I of T. dixous. Males of T. dixous could not be distinguished from T. crassipes morphologically and the idiosomal length of male T. dixous was variable (475-683 μm). Protonymphs of the two mite species differed only in size, with that of T. dixous being larger. Although T. crassipes was prevalent in a sympatric population of Trichosurus vulpecula and has been reported from other populations of T. cunninghami in southern Australia, it was never recovered from the population of T. cunninghami studied.
A fauna of quill mites of the subfamily Picobiinae (Acari: Syringophilidae) associated with African birds is revised. Two new monotypic genera are proposed, Gunabopicobia gen. n. for Picobia zumpti Lawrence, 1959 and Lawrencipicobia gen. n. for Picobia poicephali Skoracki et Dabert, 2002. These new genera differ from other genera of the subfamily by the following features: in females of Gunabopicobia, propodonotal setae vi are situated anterior to the level of setae ve; the narrow lateral propodonotal shields bear bases of setae vi, ve, si and se; the bases of setae 1a-1a are coalesced; the genital setae and the opisthosomal lobes are absent; the leg I with full set of solenidia and apodemes I are devoid of the thorn-like protuberances in the middle part. In females of Lawrencipicobia, the bases of setae 1a-1a are not coalesced; the propodonotal shield is entire; the genital setae are present; legs I are with full set of solenidia. Additionally, two new species belonging to Picobia Haller, 1878 are described, Picobia illadopsae sp. n. parasitising Illadopsis rufipennis (Sharpe) (Passeriformes: Pellorneidae) in Kenya and Picobia phoenicuri sp. n. infecting Phoenicurus moussieri (Olphe-Galliard) in Tunisia. The following species are redescribed, Columbiphilus alectoris (Fain, Bochkov et Mironov, 2000), Lawrencipicobia poicephali (Skoracki et Dabert, 2001) comb. n. and Picobia phoeniculi (Fain, Bochkov et Mironov, 2000). The key to the genera of the Picobiinae is provided.
A new species, Castosyringophilus meropis sp. n., found in quills of feathers of the European bee-eater Merops apiaster Linnaeus (Coraciiformes: Meropidae) is described. This new species is close to C. claravis Skoracki et Glowska, 2008 and differs, in females, by the presence apunctate coxal fields (vs sparsely punctate in C. claravis) and by the lengths of setae d1 145-180 µm, f2 170-185 µm and ag3 190-215 µm (vs d1 200-220 µm, f2 230-250 µm and ag3 150-170 µm). We present a vast mite material collected from bee-eaters originated from different localities in Europe, Asia and Africa, both breeding and wintering grounds of this bird. It indicates that the whole world population of the European bee-eater is parasitised by this quill mite species., Maciej Skoracki, Martin Hromada, Bozena Sikora., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The species of the genus Cimex (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) are important ectoparasites of European bats. Unlike other ectoparasites, they are attached to the body of their host only when they need to feed, otherwise they stay in refugia in bat roosts. Consequently, they are often overlooked by bat specialists and in many countries they are either unknown or poorly characterized. This study reports results from thorough investigations of bat roosts of diverse bat species in a Northwest-Southeast transect across Europe: Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria. The distribution of Cimex lectularius follows the synanthropic habitats
of its principal hosts, Myotis myotis and M. emarginatus, both Mediterranean elements of the European fauna. The climate in natural roosts (i.e. caves) inhabited by these bats in southern areas appears to restrain the presence of cimicids. In central Europe, C. pipistrelli parasitizes, beside M. myotis, many crevice-dwelling bat species indigenous to the boreal zone. However, in southern Europe, it appears only in connection with Nyctalus noctula. C. lectularius was confirmed for five host bat species and newly recorded for
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, C. pipistrelli was confirmed for seven bat species and newly recorded for Myotis nattereri. The first record of C.
emarginatus outside of its type locality and Myotis alcathoe as a new host are reported. The host preferences of the species of the genus Cimex
are discussed.
A population of the gill parasite Hatschekia pagellibogneravei (Hesse, 1878) was studied on one of its sparid fish hosts, the blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo (Brünnich), off the coast of Madeira Island, Portugal, northeast Atlantic. Very high infection levels of this copepod were detected, with no significant seasonal differences. Abundance was negatively correlated with fish size. There were significant differences in the distribution of this copepod among the gill arches of the host, which seem to be best explained by differences in water flow within the gill habitat.
The polyopisthocotylean Sparicotyle chrysophrii (Van Beneden et Hesse, 1863) was experimentally transmitted to gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) by exposure to eggs (EGT) and by cohabitation with naturally parasitized fish (CT). In EGT trials, the infection was successfully transmitted by introducing containers with monogenean eggs in the fish tanks, with the highest infection level (85.7% prevalence, 3.3 mean intensity) achieved at 6 weeks post exposure (p.e.) to the infection dose of 650 eggs per tank. In CT trials, the progression of the infection was faster and reached higher levels than in EGT. When using small fish juveniles (30 g) (CT-2), infection reached 100% prevalence (mean intensity 8 monogeneans/fish) at 5 weeks p.e., but no eggs could be found in the fish even 10 weeks p.e. By contrast, when larger juveniles (150 g) were used (CT-1), infection levels were lower, but mature adults with eggs were detected starting from 8 weeks p.e. The effect of the parasite on the condition factor, haematocrit, haemoglobin concentration (Hb), red blood cell counts, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin content (MCH) and mean cellular volume (MCV) of infected fish was studied in CT trials. The infection produced hypochromic anaemia, since Hb concentration significantly decreased at 5 and 10 weeks p.e. in CT-2 and at 8 weeks p.e. in CT-1. MCHC was significantly lower in parasitized than in control fish at 5 and 8 weeks p.e. in CT-2 and CT-1, respectively. Also in CT-1, MCH was lower and circulating immature erythrocytes, granulocytes and plasma cells were higher in infected fish than in control ones at 8 weeks p.e. The histopathological effects of the monogenean on the gills of naturally infected fish consisted of lamellar shortening, clubbing and synechiae. The proliferation of the epithelial tissue produced fusion of secondary lamellae, and abundant chloride cells were observed.
Haemadipsid leeches are among the most successful terrestrial invertebrates in Bornean rainforests. They are very common ectoparasites of vertebrates, and their abundance has facilitated the conduction of numerous projects in the fields of ecology, zoogeography and taxonomy. We undertook research on two species inhabiting lowland dipterocarp forest, Haemadipsa picta Moore, 1929 and Haemadipsa subagilis (Moore, 1929), in order to address the following questions: (a) is there a difference in leech abundance between trails and off-trails?; (b) is ambush location dependent on specimen size or is species-specific?; (c) is intra- and interspecific competition limited by differences in foraging behaviours or vertical niche partitioning? Our results clearly show that H. picta is more abundant on trails than on off-trails and is vertically dispersed within the understory; the size of a specimen is strongly correlated with plant height. Haemadipsa subagilis was found not to exhibit such patterns. We suggest a possible lowering of interspecific competition between these species as a result of: (i) size-dependent dispersion of H. picta (together with reduction of intraspecific competition); and (ii) habitat specialisation of H. subagilis. Moreover, we provide new observations on their foraging behaviour., Piotr Gąsiorek, Hanna Różycka., and Obsahuje bibliografii