Species Composition of Parasitic Mites of the Subfamily Picobiinae (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) Associated with African Barbets (Piciformes: Lybiidae)

Abstract

In this study, we conducted a parasitological investigation of the quill mite fauna of the subfamily Picobiinae (Acariformes: Prostigmata: Syringophilidae) associated with African barbets (Aves: Piciformes: Lybiidae). We examined twenty-seven host species, representing 57% of the forty-seven known host species in the family Lybiidae, belonging to seven genera (70% of the ten genera in the family). Our research revealed that ten host species were infested by three species of picobiine mites belonging to the genus Tanopicobia: (1) Tanopicobia hallae Sikora and Skoracki, sp. n., from three species of the genus Lybius and two species of the genus Tricholaema, (2) Tanopicobia stactolaema Sikora and Skoracki, sp. n., from two species of the genus Stactolaema, and (3) Tanopicobia trachyphoni Skoracki et al., 2020, collected from three host species of the genus Trachyphonus. Our findings demonstrate that birds belonging to the family Lybiidae have a specific parasite fauna consisting exclusively of mites of the genus Tanopicobia; this mite genus is apparently restricted to African barbets.

The Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Behaviour of Mites

“…In this Special Issue, the coevolutionary associations between mites and their hosts are explored through several studies [1][2][3][4][5], providing insights into the host-parasite relationship, phylogeny, and host specificity of mites. For instance, the discovery of a new scale-mite species from Robert's Tree Iguana [1] not only enriches the taxonomic diversity of mites but also provides novel insights into the phylogenetic relationships within the Pterygosomatidae family.…”

“…Research on Demodex in the mouflon [3] expands our comprehension of host-parasite relationships by shedding light on the evolutionary history and ecological interactions of these skin mites in wild populations. Lastly, the description of three new feather mite species from Brazilian parrots [4] and the study on parasitic mites of African barbets [5] reveal the specificity of mite-host relationships and contribute to the broader understanding of coevolutionary dynamics between mites and birds, highlighting the role of ecological and evolutionary processes in shaping host-parasite interactions.…”