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Ornithonyssus
Taxonomic
Position
Cohort Gamasina
Subcohort Dermanyssiae
Superfamily
Dermanyssoidea
Family Macronyssidae
Oudemans
Ornithonyssus Sambon
Diagnostic characters:
-
Grey-brown to red (when blood engorged) or black parasitic dermanyssine
mesostigmatans with tapering holodorsal shields
-
Sternal shield entire to eroded
sternal shield bearing 1-3 pairs of setae; genital shield tongue- or knife-shaped
genital shield with 0-1 pairs of setae
-
Anal shield small, with 3 circumanal
setae; some ventral and lateral hypertrichy present.
-
Tarsus I with claws; trochanter I with 6 setae; tibia and genu I each
with 6/3 dorsal/ ventral setae; genu IV with 5/2 dorsal/ ventral.
-
Chelicerae elongate and edentate; movable digit without excrescences.
Palp genu with 6 setae, palp apotele 2-tined; corniculi membranous.
-
Tritosternum biflagellate with denticulate
membranous margin in soil genera.
-
Tectum
smooth or slightly denticulate.
Similar taxa.
Laelapid mites are similar, but lack the expanded margins of the tritosternal
laciniae and have well developed corniculi (horn- to bayonet-shaped).
Ecology & Distribution. Macronyssids
are parasites of birds, mammals and reptiles, but they often leave their hosts
to lay eggs in soil and crevices around dens, burrows and nests. The tropical rate mite, Ornithonyssus
bacoti, builds up large populations on feral mice and infests native
mammals as well. The tropical fowl mite, Ornithonyssus
bursa, infests a variety of introduced and native birds and is the most
common source of human bites by mites in Brisbane; O. sylviarum causes
similar problems in more temperate regions.
References
Domrow R. 1988. Acari Mesostigmata parasitic on Australian vertebrates:
an annotated checklist, keys and bibliography. Invertebrate Taxonomy 1:
817-948.
Evans
EO & Till WM. 1979.
Mesostigmatic mites of Britain and Ireland (Chelicerata: Acari-Parasitiformes).
An introduction to their external morphology and classification. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 35
(2): 145-270.
Krantz
GW. 1978. A Manual of Acarology.
OSU Bookstores: Corvallis.
