Pellonyssus reedi ( Zumpt & Patterson, 1952 )

Mašán, Peter, Fenďa, Peter, Krištofík, Ján & Halliday, Bruce, 2014, A review of the ectoparasitic mites (Acari: Dermanyssoidea) associated with birds and their nests in Slovakia, with notes on identification of some species, Zootaxa 3893 (1), pp. 77-100 : 88

Pellonyssus reedi ( Zumpt & Patterson, 1952)

Steatonyssus reedi Zumpt & Patterson, 1952: 163 .

Steatonyssus malurus Womersley, 1956: 214 . Synonymy by Till (1964).

Pellonyssus passeri Clark & Yunker, 1956: 94 . Synonymy by Till (1964).

Steatonyssus stenosternus Wang, 1963: 54 . Synonymy by Domrow (1966).

Pellonyssus nidicolus Baker, Delfinado & Abbatiello, 1976: 56 . Synonymy by Radovsky & Estébanes-Gonzáles (2001). Pellonyssus reedi .— Micherdziński, 1980: 190; Radovsky & Estébanes-Gonzáles, 2001: 20.

Taxonomic remarks. Our specimens are in very good agreement with those described by Clark & Yunker (1956) under the name Pellonyssus passeri and later synonymised with Pellonyssus reedi by Till (1964). The female of the species is recognised by the following character states (1) peritremes reaching the mid-level of coxae II; (2) coxae II with a distinctive spur on its anterior margin; (3) basitarsi IV with an elongated setae pd3; (4) sternal shield reduced in length, subcrescentic; (5) sternal setae st1 short, subequal with anterio-posterior length of the sternal shield; (6) podonotal shield with ten pairs of setae and opisthonotal shield with six pairs of setae.

Occurrence and habitat. Pellonyssus reedi seems to be host-specific for sparrows, Passer spp., but it has also occasionally been recorded in the nests of other bird species ( Micherdziński 1980). In Slovakia, it was found as a nest associate of the water pipit ( Anthus spinoletta ) and Eurasian tree sparrow ( Passer monatnus ), in collection sites at altitudes between 130 and 1,650 m a.s.l. Our detection of one heavily infested sparrow’s nest with 2,598 specimens of this mite confirms its high reproductive ability on this host. Szabó et al. (2008) found 12,213 individuals of P. reedi on 188 young sparrows in Hungary.

Host distribution. Bird nests: Anthus spinoletta , Passer montanus ( Švaňa et al. 2006, as Pellonyssus sp., Fenďa et al. 2011, as Pellonyssus aff. reedi ).

New data. Malá Fatra Mts.: 1 ♂, 9 July 2008, Turany Village, Snilovské Sedlo Mountain Pass, Anthus spinoletta ; 2 ♀♀, 9 July 2008, Turany Village, Veľký Kriváň Mt., Anthus spinoletta .