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Abstract
The feather mite Pterodectes ralliculae Atyeo and Gaud, Citation1977 (Proctophyllodidae: Pterodectinae) is the only proctophyllodid known from rallids (Gruiformes, Rallidae). Based on re-examination of the type material, this mite species is redescribed and transferred to the genus Montesauria Oudemans, Citation1905, Montesauria ralliculae (Atyeo and Gaud, Citation1977) comb. nov. This redescription brings details of structures missed in the original description: in both sexes, vertical setae ve are present, setae mG on genu II, gT on tibia II and wa on tarsi I and II are present; in males, the rudimentary epimeral sclerites rEpIIa are present and the female is illustrated for the first time. The transfer of P. ralliculae to Montesauria was also supported by the preliminary phylogenetic hypothesis recently proposed for the subfamily Pterodectinae.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Drs Lorenzo Prendini and Jeremy Huff (Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Manhattan, NY, USA) and Drs Ronald Ochoa and Debra Creel (United States National Museum, Beltsville, MD, USA) for making available the type specimens for the study and Dr Ray Fisher (Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas, AR, USA) for revising the English in the first draft of the manuscript. The study was supported in part (for SVM) by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (No 07-04-00426a).