Mironov S.V.1, Pérez T.M.2, Palma R.L.3 2009. A new genus and new species of feather mite of the family Pterolichidae (Acari: Astigmata) from Gallus gallus (Galliformes: Phasianidae) in the Galápagos Islands // Acarina. Vol.17. No.1: 57–64 [in English].
1 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Nab. 1, 199034, Saint Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: astigmata@zin.ru
2 Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán 04510, México, D.F., México; e-mail: tilam@ibiologia.unam.mx
3 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand; e-mail: RicardoP@tepapa.govt.nz
ABSTRACT: Epistomolichus reticulatus (Pterolichidae: Pterolichinae), gen. nov., sp. nov., is described from a domestic chicken Gallus gallus (Aves: Phasianidae) from Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Males and females of the new species have a rostrum-like extension above the gnathosoma, a character rarely found in members of the Pterolichidae and other feather mite taxa. Epistomolichus reticulatus is morphologically different from pterolichids associated with other domesticated galliform birds, but resembles pterolichid genera restricted to megapodes (Galliformes: Megapodiidae). The presence of E. reticulatus on a domestic chicken in the Galápagos Islands is enigmatic: it may be either a mite specific to G. gallus inherited from its wild ancestor, or a mite transferred from an unknown galliform species kept in farmyards in South America, which established successfully on domestic chickens.
KEY WORDS: Epistomolichus reticulatus, new genus, new species, feather mites, Pterolichidae, Gallus gallus, domestic chickens, Galápagos Islands