Syringophilidae

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Quill mites
Tanopicobia trachyphoni (10.1371-journal.pone.0225982) Figure 1.tiff
Tanopicobia trachyphoni (Picobiinae)
dorsal and ventral view
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Syringophilidae

Syringophilidae is a family of mites, commonly known as quill mites. They are obligatory ectoparasites of birds, and inhabit their feather quills where they feed on subcutaneous tissue and fluids. [1] Typically the Syringophilinae inhabit all but the body feathers (primaries, secondaries, tertials, rectrices and wing coverts), while the Picobinae specialize in infecting the body feathers internally. [2] Quill mites have been recorded from hundreds of bird species, belonging to 95 families and 24 orders. Much knowledge of their hosts, diversity and systematics has been obtained since the late 1990s, [2] but as of 2020 these were still considered to be poorly known. [1]

Contents

Life cycle

A single fertilized female enters the soft calamus of a developing feather through the opening called superior umbilicus. When this is getting closed, it produces offspring; a single male and several females, which develop within this enclosed space. The offspring then fertilize each other and produce one more generation still enclosed here. Again, only a single male offspring is produced by each female, which will fertilize their sisters and cousins. Finally, fertilized females disperse to look for new feathers on the same host bird or on another one. The most frequent type of transmission is the parent-offspring route. Due to this peculiar life cycle, quill mite populations are highly inbred and subjected to an extremely reduced (if any) sexual selection pressure. [3]

Symbionts

They may host strains of Wolbachia , an intracellular bacterial genus. [4] Additionally Spiroplasma bacteria are suspected symbionts, besides potentially the pathogens Anaplasma phagocytophilum , Brucella and Bartonella . [1]

Genera

The family contains the following genera: [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mite</span> Small eight-legged arthropod

Mites are small arachnids. Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as each other's closest relative within Arachnida, rendering the group non-monophyletic. Most mites are tiny, less than 1 mm (0.04 in) in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others are predators or parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive Varroa parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plum-headed parakeet</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashy woodswallow</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesostigmata</span> Order of mites

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feather mite</span> Index of animals with the same common name

Feather mites are the members of diverse mite superfamilies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-headed woodpecker</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proctophyllodidae</span> Family of mites

The Proctophyllodidae are a family of the Acarina (mite) order Astigmata. They contain many feather mites. The Alloptidae and Trouessartiidae were in earlier times included here as subfamilies.

<i>Lorryia formosa</i> Species of mite

Lorryia formosa, commonly known as the yellow mite or the citrus yellow mite, is a species of acariform mite. They are in the subfamily Tydeinae of the family Tydeidae. Commonly found on the foliage of citrus trees around the world, Lorryia formosa also associates with a variety of other plant types. The life cycle includes six discrete stages of development, and the lifespan averages about 37 days. The females of the species use an asexual form of reproduction where the growth and development of embryos occurs without fertilization by a male, a process called thelytoky.

<i>Proctophyllodes</i> Genus of birds

Proctophyllodes is a genus of feather mites, found on passerine birds.

Neoaulonastus is a genus of mite.

Syringophilopsis is a genus of mites that parasitize the feathers of passeriform birds.

Limnochares americana is a species of mite in the family Limnocharidae.

Limnocharidae is a family of mites in the order Trombidiformes. There are at least 4 genera and about 12 described species in Limnocharidae.

Limnochares is a genus of mites in the family Limnocharidae. There are at least two described species in Limnochares.

<i>Glyphanoetus</i> Genus of mites

Glyphanoetus is a genus of astigs in the family Histiostomatidae.

<i>Penthaleus major</i> Species of mite

Penthaleus major, known generally as the winter grain mite or blue oat mite, is a species of earth mite in the family Penthaleidae.

<i>Petrobia</i> Genus of mites

Petrobia is a genus in Tetranychidae, containing 34 described species. It includes some pest species.

Adamystidae is a family of mites in the order Trombidiformes. There are at least three genera, one of which is extinct, in Adamystidae. It is the sole family in the monotypic superfamily Adamystoidea.

Odontoscirus is a genus of snout mites in the family Bdellidae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Glowska, Eliza; Filutowska, Zuzanna Karolina; Dabert, Miroslawa; Gerth, Michael (May 2020). "Microbial composition of enigmatic bird parasites: Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are the most important bacterial associates of quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae)". MicrobiologyOpen. 9 (5): e964. doi:10.1002/mbo3.964. PMC   7221428 . PMID   32141700.
  2. 1 2 Glowska, Eliza; Chrzanowski, Mateusz; Kaszewska, Katarzyna (9 June 2015). "Checklist of the Quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) of the World". Zootaxa. 3968 (1): 1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3968.1.1 . Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  3. Rozsa, Lajos; Moldovan, Evelyn (2022). "Relationship between body size and sexual size dimorphism in syringophilid quill mites". Parasitology Research. 121 (3): 891–898. doi:10.1007/s00436-022-07437-3. PMC   8858279 . PMID   35067745.
  4. Glowska, Eliza; Dragun-Damian, Anna; Dabert, Miroslawa; Gerth, Michael (March 2015). "New Wolbachia supergroups detected in quill mites (Acari: Syringophilidae)". Infection, Genetics and Evolution. 30: 140–146. doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2014.12.019. PMID   25541519. S2CID   4963395 . Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  5. Andrey Bochkov. "Syringophilidae". Joel Hallam's Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University . Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  6. Maciej Skoracki, Martin Hromada & Markus Unsoeld (2013). "Three new quill mite species of the genus Neoaulonastus Skoracki (Acari: Syringophilidae) parasitizing passerines in Tanzania". Zootaxa . 3616 (4): 367–377. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3616.4.5.
  7. Skoracki, M.; Zmudzinski, M.; Solarczyk, P. (2017). "Ixobrychiphilus, a new genus of the family Syringophilidae (Acariformes: Prostigmata)". Acarologia. 57 (2): 269–273. doi: 10.1051/acarologia/20164155 . ISSN   2107-7207. S2CID   90997778 . Retrieved 1 February 2017.