A review of the genus Anisodiscus Gaud & Mouchet (Acari, Proctophyllodidae) from Madagascar sunbirds (Passeriformes: Nectariniidae), with observations on male genital morphology

Abstract

In the present article, we review the feather mites of the genus Anisodiscus Gaud & Mouchet, 1957 associated with sunbirds of Madagascar (Passeriformes: Nectariniidae). Anisodiscus goodmani sp. nov. is described from Cinnyris sovimanga (Gmelin, 1788). This species, as far as we know, bears the longest male intromittent organ (aedeagus) in relation to its body size of any described mite. Anisodiscus megalurus (Trouessart, 1899) is redescribed and illustrated for the first time based on type specimens from the Trouessart collection and recently collected material.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F1E8A6DB-63CD-4A36-99C5-DC54184FAAE7

Keywords:

• Acari
• feather mites
• systematics
• taxonomy
• Pterodectinae
• aedeagus

Acknowledgements

We especially thank Dr Steven M. Goodman of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and the University of Antananarivo, for his efforts to collect and preserve vertebrate specimens in such a manner as to preserve the ectoparasite communities, and for making these specimens available to BMOC for study. We also thank Dr Mark Judson (MNHN, Paris), and Didier Van Den Spiegel (MRAC, Tervuren, Belgium), for kindly lending type specimens of A. megalurus and A. dolichogaster, respectively. Finally, we thank Jason Weckstein and Nicholas Block (FMNH), for providing information on the original spelling of the Souimanga sunbird. FAH was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP 2011/50145-0, 2011/20805-8), and BMOC was supported by the US National Science Foundation (DEB-0118766).

Notes

1. 1. In the catalogue of the Trouessart collection, these slides are indicated as lectotype and paralectotypes remounted by W.T. Atyeo and determined by C.K. Park. The slides are also so labelled, but this lectotype designation was never published, so we properly designate it here.