Steatonyssus longipes Radovsky & Yunker, 1963

Negm, Mohamed Waleed, Mohamed, Azza Abdelgawad, Mohamed, B Hosam, B, Mohamed Khalil El-Gepaly & B, Safaa Mohamed Abdelaziz, 2018, Mesostigmata mites (Acari: Parasitiformes) associated with birds and their nests from Egypt, Turkish Journal of Zoology 42 (6), pp. 722-731 : 728

Steatonyssus longipes Radovsky & Yunker, 1963

The species Steatonyssus longipes Radovsky & Yunker was previously described as a new species from the Egyptian slit-faced bat, Nycteris thebaica Geoffroy ( Chiroptera : Nycteridae ). In the present survey, it is first recorded from various bird hosts and localities in Egypt, with higher abundance in the nests of the house sparrow at eight different localities ( Figures 15–17 ).

Family Dermanyssidae

Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer, 1778)

The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer) , is an ectoparasite with enormous epidemiological and economical importance to the poultry industry worldwide. It feeds on blood, downgrades egg quality, causes anemia in birds, and transmits several human and animal diseases. Identification of D. gallinae can be quite problematic for scientists not familiar with mite morphology and terminology. Moreover, this species may easily be confused with other macronyssid mites of the genera Ornithonyssus and Steatonyssus , which often share the same hosts and habitats. D. gallinae can be identified by having the idiosoma broadly rounded posteriorly ( Figure 18 ), cheliceral digits whip-like, sternal shield wider than long, and bearing two pairs of sternal setae ( Figure 19 ); the genital shield is broadly rounded posteriorly, and with one pair of setae and a pair of epigynal pores. The anal shield has only three anal setae ( Figure 20 ).

Figures

Figures 15–20. Steatonyssus longipes Radovsky & Yunker, 1963: 15- general view, 16- sternal shield, 17- anal shield. Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer, 1778): 18- general body shape, 19- close-up to the gnathosoma showing the whip-like chelicerae, 20- anal shield. Scale bars = 100 µm.