New taxa of the parasitic quill mites associated with accipitrid birds indicating close relationship of falconid birds to Psittaci–Columbi clade

Abstract

Two new species of syringophilid mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Cheyletoidea: Syringophilidae) associated with accipitrid diurnal raptors (Falconiformes: Accipitridae) are described and figured: Megasyringophilus aquilus sp. nov. from two host species of the genus Aquila, A. rapax (Temminck, 1828) and A. pomarina Brehm, 1831, and Peristerophila accipitridicus sp. nov. from Terathopius ecaudatus (Daudin, 1800). Relationships between birds of prey and Psittaci–Columbi clade are briefly discussed.

Keywords:

• Acari
• quill mites
• Syringophilidae
• ectoparasites
• Falconiformes

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript. The senior author was supported by the Polish Committee for Scientific Research (Grant no. NN 303318433).