Pelargolichus Gaud, 1982

Waki, Tsukasa, Nishiumi, Isao & Shimano, Satoshi, 2023, Report of a Feather Mite Species (Acariformes: Astigmata) from the Oriental White Stork, Ciconia boyciana (Ciconiiformes: Ciconiidae), Belonging to the Japanese Native Population, Species Diversity 28 (2), pp. 225-229 : 226

Genus Pelargolichus Gaud, 1982 Pelargolichus orientalis Waki, Mironov, and Shimano in Waki et al., 2023 ( Figs 2, 3 )

Material examined. Three males and three females from the Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana (Ciciniiformes: Ciconiidae ), Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, 14 May 1950, collected by Heiichi Kobayashi, preserved in Himeji City Science Museum, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (No.: 0321-002) .

Remarks. The total of 89 adult mites (42 males, 47 females), and nine immature stages were sampled from only one of two examined host specimens ( Fig. 1 ). Currently, the genus Pelargolichus includes two species, P. orientalis and P. didactylus (Trouessart, 1885) , and is restricted to storks of the genus Ciconia Brisson, 1760 , C. boyciana and C. ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Gaud 1982; Pérez and Atyeo 1992). The standard morphological description of P. orientalis was recently provided by Waki et al. (2023), and the present study reports a few additional morphological details as follows: in both sexes, the prodorsal shield is crossed by narrow transverse band of soft tegument encircling the bases of setae se ( Fig. 3A ); in females, the width of pygidial shield situated near posterior margin of opisthosoma ranged 25–30 (mean 28, n = 3), and is approximately equal to or slightly shorter than the distance h2-h2 ( Fig. 3B ).

Figures

Fig. 3. Pelargolichus orientalis, male (A) and female (B). A, right setae se and si on prodorsal shield, dorsal view; B, posterior part of hysterosoma, dorsal view. Scale bars: 10µm.

Fig. 1. The taxidermy specimen of the Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana sampled in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.