THE NASAL MITES OF QUEENSLAND BIKDS (ACARI: DERMANYSSIDAE, EREYNETIDAE, AND EPIDERMOPTID AE) Robert Domrow Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane (Plates xxx-xxxi) [Read September 25, 1968] Synopsis Native and introduced birds of 211 genera and 330 species have been examined for nasal mites in Queensland. At a generic level, this represents 64% of the Australian, and 75% of the Queensland fauna. At a specific level, the corresponding figures are 45% and 58%. Of the Queensland fauna, 53% of the genera and 36% of the species were found to be infested. Three families of mites were discovered in this microhabitat: Dermanyssidae (eight genera, 99 species), Ereynetidae (four genera, 19 species), and Bpidermoptidae (six genera, six species). Keys are provided to all genera and species known to occur in Australian birds. The following 12 dermanyssid species have been described as new: Tinaminyssus megaloprepiae from Megaloprepia magnified (Columbidae), T. myristicivorae and T. welchi from Myristicivora spilorrhoa (Columbidae), Ruandanyssus artami from Artamus cinereus and A. minor (Artamidae), Ptilonyssus neochmiae from Neochmia phaeton (Ploceidae), P. struthideae from Struthidea cinerea (Corvidae), P. corcoracis from Corcorax melanorhamphus (Corvidae), P. orthonychus from Orthonyx temminckii (Timaliidae), P. monarchae from Monarcha trivirgata (Muscicapidae), P. setosae from Rhipidura setosa and R. rufifrons (Muscicapidae), P. gerygonae from Gerygone palpebrosa (Sylviidae), and Sternostoma neosUtae from Neositta striata (Sittidae). The following three ereynetid species have been described as new: Boydaia myzomelae from Myzomela sanguinolenta (Meliphagidae), B. maluri from Malurus amabilis and M. melanocephalus (Sylviidae), and Ophthalmognathus accipitris from Accipiter fasciatus (Accipitridae). Fourteen dermanyssid, eight ereynetid, and one epidermoptid species have been recorded from Australia for the first time, as have the genera Rhinoecius (Der-manyssidae), Ophthalmognathus (Ereynetidae), and Mycteroptes (Epidermoptidae). Forty-nine new host-records have been detailed for 24 dermanyssid species, and one each for one ereynetid and one epidermoptid species. Forty generic and 56 specific names (of which 25 and 36, respectively, are new synonyms) have been discarded as being based on too typological an approach to taxonomy, without due regard to intraspecific variation and zoogeography. Five habitats have been sampled more or less intensively, viz. rain-forest, tropical woodland, tropical tussock grassland, semi-arid savannah, and coastland. Host-specificity is well marked, each genus or species of mite being restricted to a particular family, genus, or species of bird. This is true both of cosmopolitan and Old World groups of birds that occur in Australia (even if represented by only one species), and of birds such as the honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) that have radiated in, and are restricted to the Australian zoogeographical region. The rhinonyssine genera (Dermanyssidae) are considered monophyletic and separable only on ecological grounds from the ectoparasitic macronyssine species found on both birds and mammals. In both subfamilies, the protonymph has well developed chelicerae like those of the adult female, while the deutonymph, with poorly developed chelicerae like those of the larva, is a non-feeding stage. The genera have developed along three lines. Tinaminyssus, a simple genus retaining extensive dorsal shields and a tritosternum in species parasitizing ground-birds, leads, by reductions of the dorsal armature and the respiratory apparatus, to three genera restricted to birds of the shore and open water (Larinyssus, Rallinyssus, and Rhinonyssus) . All four possess normal chelicerae with two unreduced digits. In Ruandanyssus and Rhinoecius, the fixed digit is absent, leaving a falcate movable digit of normal proportions. In Ptilonyssus and Sternostoma, both digits are considerably reduced, with a concomitant tapering of the distal half of the cheliceral shaft. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, Vol. 93, Part 3
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