Abstract
The study focuses on chigger mites parasitizing bird hosts in three countries of Latin America, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Peru. In total, 785 chiggers collected from 145 birds of 67 species have been identified. Three new species have been described: Eutrombicula talamancensis sp. nov., from ten bird species in Costa Rica, Eutrombicula cathari sp. nov., from two species of the genus Catharus Bonaparte, 1850 in Costa Rica, and Eutrombicula gonzalezi sp. nov., from three bird species in Paraguay. Eutrombicula helleri (Oudemans, 1911), considered as a synonym of Eutrombicula goeldii (Oudemans, 1910) since 1949, has been restored as a separate species. Re-descriptions of E. helleri, E. goeldii, and Eutrombicula pacae (Floch and Fauran, 1957) have been provided based on new materials. Five species have been for the first time recorded in Paraguay, four in Peru, and two in Costa Rica. Five species have been for the first time recorded on bird hosts. Data on a geographic morphometric variability of E. helleri and Blankaartia sinnamaryi (Floch and Fauran, 1956) have been provided. Co-occurrence of two (three, in one case) chigger species on one host individual has been recorded in 17% of birds.
References
Arnold, K.A. (1970) Notes on avian ectoparasites from Costa Rica. I. Acarina and Diptera. Revista de Biología Tropical, 16, 259–265.
Bassini-Silva, R., Jacinavicius, F.C., Mendoza-Roldan, J.A., Daemon, E. & Barros-Battesti, D.M. (2016) Description of Blankaartia shatrovi n. sp. (Acari: Trombiculidae) from Brazil. Journal of Medical Entomology, 54, 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjw149
Bassini-Silva, R., Jacinavicius, F.C., Oliveira, M., Peinado, L.C., Faxina, C., Moreira-Lima, L., Welbourn, C., Ochoa, R., Fischer, E., Hingst-Zaher, E., Famadas, K.M., Faccini, J.L.H. & Barros-Battesti, D.M. (2020) A Revision of Parasecia (Trombidiformes: Trombiculidae) with a description of a new species, a new genus and a key to species. Journal of Medical Entomology, 58, 146–181. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa149
Bassini-Silva, R., Jacinavicius, F.C., Pinter, A., Fournier, G.F.S.R., Lugarini, C., Ferreira, A., Moreira-Lima, L., Hingst-Zaher, E., Welbourn, C., Ochoa, R. & Barros-Battesti, D.M. (2019) Eutrombicula tinami (Oudemans, 1910) (Trombidiformes: Trombiculidae) in Brazil: a neglected ectoparasite of several animals including humans. Acarologia, 59, 412–423. https://doi.org/10.24349/acarologia/20194343
Bassini-Silva, R., Takatsu, J.C., Bermúdez, S.E., Miranda, R.J., Welbourn, C., Ochoa, R., Barros-Battesti, D.M. & Jacinavicius, F.C. (2021) A checklist of chiggers (Trombidiformes: Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae) of Panama. Acarologia, 61, 763–789. https://doi.org/10.24349/ach8-Eqk3
Brennan, J.M. (1965) Two new species and other records of chiggers from Texas (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Acarologia, 7, 79–83.
Brennan, J.M. (1969) Three new species of subgenus Parasecia Loomis (genus Fonsecia) from northeastern Brazil and a key to the included species (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Journal of Parasitology, 55, 662–666. https://doi.org/10.2307/3277312
Brennan, J.M. (1970) Chiggers from the Bolivian-Brazilian border (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Journal of Parasitology, 56, 807–812. https://doi.org/10.2307/3277728
Brennan, J.M. & Goff, M.L. (1977) The Neotropical genus Hoffmannina: four new species and other records from Mexico, Panama and Venezuela (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Journal of Parasitology, 63, 908–914. https://doi.org/10.2307/3279906
Brennan, J.M. & Jones, E.K. (1960) Chiggers of Trinidad, BWI (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Acarologia, 2, 493–540.
Brennan, J.M. & Jones, E.K. (1961a) Chiggers of Peru (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Acarologia, 3, 172–205.
Brennan, J.M. & Jones, E.K. (1961b) New genera and species of chiggers from Panama (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Journal of Parasitology, 47, 105–124. https://doi.org/10.2307/3274993
Brennan, J.M. & Lukoschus, F. (1971) Parasitic mites of Surinam. VIII. A new genus and species of chigger, Fauranius atecmartus, and additional records of species (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 70, 42–45.
Brennan, J.M. & Reed, J.T. (1974) The genus Eutrombicula in Venezuela (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Journal of Parasitology, 60, 699–711. https://doi.org/10.2307/3278741
Brennan, J.M. & Reed, J.T. (1975) A list of Venezuela chiggers, particularly of small mammalian hosts (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Brigham Young University Science Bulletin, Biological Series, 20, 45–75.
Brennan, J.M. & Yunker, C.E. (1966) The chiggers of Panama (Acarina: Trombiculidae). In: Wenzel, R.L. & Tipton, V.J. (Eds.), Ectoparasites of Panama. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 221–266.
Daniel, M. & Stekolnikov, A.A. (2003a) Chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) new to the fauna of Cuba, with the description of two new species. Folia Parasitologica, 50 (2), 143–150. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2003.025
Daniel, M. & Stekolnikov, A.A. (2003b) To the fauna of chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) parasitize bats in Cuba. Acarologia, 43 (1), 29–37.
Daniel, M. & Stekolnikov, A.A. (2004) Chigger mites of the genus Eutrombicula Ewing, 1938 (Acari: Trombiculidae) from Cuba, with the description of three new species. Folia Parasitologica, 51 (4), 359–366. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2004.045
Domrow, R. & Lester, L.N. (1985) Chiggers of Australia (Acari: Trombiculidae): an annotated checklist, keys and bibliography. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series, 114, 1–111. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJZS114
Domrow, R. & Nadchatram, M. (1960) Malaysian Parasites—XLIII. Neoschoengastia in Malaya (Acarina, Trombiculidae). Studies from the Institute for Medical Research, Federation of Malaya, 29, 185–193.
Floch, H. & Fauran, P. (1956) Sur deux espèces du genre “Trombicula” (Acariens, Trombiculidés) nouvelles pour la faune de la Guyane Française: “Trombicula alfreddugesi” (Oudemans, 1910) et “Trombicula sinnamaryi” n. sp. Archives de l’Institut Pasteur de la Guyane Française et de l’Inini, 17, 1–7.
Floch, H. & Fauran, P. (1957) Description de deux nouvelles espèces du genre “Trombicula” (Acariens, Trombiculidés) de Guyane Française. Archives de l’Institut Pasteur de la Guyane Française et de l’Inini, 18, 1–6.
Fuller, H.S. (1952) The mite-larvae of the family Trombiculidae in the Oudemans collection: taxonomy and medical importance. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 18, 1–261.
Geest, J.C. & Loomis, R.B. (1968) Chiggers of the genus Pseudoschoengastia (Acarina: Trombiculidae) from Costa Rica. Contributions in Science (Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History), 150, 1–49.
Gill, F., Donsker, D. & Rasmussen, P. (Eds.) (2021) IOC World Bird List. Version 11.2. https://doi.org/10.14344/IOC.ML.11.2
Goff, M.L. (1982) A new species of Sasacarus (Acari: Trombiculidae) from an Incan “rat” opossum (Marsupialia: Caenolestidae) in Peru. Journal of Medical Entomology, 19, 60–62. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/19.1.60
Goff, M.L. (1987) The genera Hoffmannina and Crotiscus (Acari: Trombiculidae) with descriptions of two new peruvian species from Lestoros inca (Marsupialia: Caenolestidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 80, 809–813. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/80.6.809
Goff, M.L. (1988) A new species of chigger (Acari: Trombiculidae) from a vampire bat (Chiroptera: Desmodontidae) collected in Costa Rica. International Journal of Acarology, 14, 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/01647958808683797
Goff, M.L. (1992a) A new species of Eusaperium (Acari: Trombiculidae) from an Incan “rat” opossum, Lestoros inca (Marsupialia: Caenolestidae) in Peru. Bulletin of the Society for Vector Ecology, 17, 38–40.
Goff, M.L. (1992b) The genus Parasecia (Acari: Trombiculidae), with the description of a new species from Mexico. Journal of Medical Entomology, 29, 965–967 https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/29.6.965
Goff, M.L. & Loomis, R.B. (1977) The genus Odontacarus (Acari: Trombiculidae) in North America. Journal of Medical Entomology, 14, 370–373 https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/14.3.370
Goff, M.L., Loomis, R.B., Welbourn, W.C. & Wrenn, W.J. (1982) A glossary of chigger terminology (Acari: Trombiculidae). Journal of Medical Entomology, 19, 221–238 https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/19.3.221
Goff, M.L. & Whitaker, J.O. Jr. (1984a) A new genus of Leeuwenhoekiinae (Acari: Trombiculidae) from cricetid rodents in Paraguay. Journal of Medical Entomology, 21, 31–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/21.1.31
Goff, M.L. & Whitaker, J.O. Jr. (1984b) A small collection of chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae) from mammals collected in Paraguay. Journal of Medical Entomology, 21, 327–335 https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/21.3.327
Goff, M.L., Whitaker, J.O. Jr. & Barkley, L.J. (1984) A new species of Loomisia (Acari: Trombiculidae) from a Peruvian bat. Journal of Medical Entomology, 21, 80–81. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/21.1.80
Goff, M.L., Ritzi, C.M. & Hice, C.L. (2002) A new species of Polylopadium Brennan & Jones, 1961 (Acari: Trombiculidae) from cricetid rodents, Peru, with description of a new character for the genus and a key to the species. Journal of Medical Entomology, 39, 275–277. https://doi.org/10.1603/0022-2585-39.2.275
Gunther, C.E.M. (1951) On Trombicula minor Berlese, 1905. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 76, 66–70.
Hoffmann, A (1990) Los Trombicúlidos de México (Acarida: Trombiculidae). Parte taxonómica. Publicaciones especiales del Instituto de Biología. Vol. 2. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 275 pp.
Jacinavicius, F.C., Bassini-Silva, R., Mendoza-Roldan, J.A., Pepato, A.R., Ochoa, R., Welbourn, C., Barros-Battesti, D.M. (2018) A checklist of chiggers from Brazil, including new records (Acari: Trombidiformes: Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae). ZooKeys, 743, 1–41. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.743.22675
Jenkins, D.W. (1949) Trombiculid mites affecting man. IV. Revision of Eutrombicula in the American Hemisphere. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 42, 289–318 https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/42.3.289
Kalúz, S., Literák, I. & Kolenčík, S. (2018) The chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae) on wild birds in Honduras. Folia Parasitologica, 65, 017. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2018.017
Kounek, F., Sychra, O., Capek, M., Lipkova, A. & Literak, I. (2011) Chewing lice of the genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from the Cardinalidae, Emberizidae, Fringillidae and Thraupidae (Aves: Passeriformes) from Costa Rica, with descriptions of four new species. Zootaxa, 3032 (1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3032.1.1
Kudryashova, N.I. (1998) Chigger mites (Acariformes, Trombiculidae) of East Palaearctics. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 342 pp. [in Russian]
Literák, I., Bochkov, A.V., Cárdenas-Callirgos, J. & Capek, M. (2012) The first records of mites of the genus Neharpyrhynchus (Acariformes: Harpirhynchidae) from birds in Peru. Neotropical Helminthology, 6, 109–114.
Loomis, R.B. (1966) A new genus, Fonsecula, and a new subgenus (Parasecia) of the genus Fonsecia (Acarina, Trombiculidae). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 65, 190–191.
Loomis, R.B. & Spath, L.C. (1969) A new species of Odontacarus Ewing (Acarina, Trombiculidae) from lizards of Baja California Sur, México. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 68, 187–190.
Loomis, R.B. & Wrenn, W.J. (1984) Systematics of the pest chigger genus Eutrombicula (Acari: Trombiculidae). In: Griffiths, D.A. & Bowman, C.E. (Eds.), Acarology VI. 1. Ellis Horwood Limited, Chichester, pp. 152–159.
Matthee, S., Stekolnikov, A.A., Van der Mescht, L., Froeschke, G. & Morand, S. (2020) The diversity and distribution of chigger mites associated with rodents in the South African savanna. Parasitology, 147, 1038–1047. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182020000748
McClure, H.E. (1987) The occurrence of chiggers, Neoschoengastia americana, among chaparral birds of southern California. North American Bird Bander, 12, 148–150.
Moniuszko, H., Felska, M. & Mąkol, J. (2018) Evidence for co-invasion events: different chigger species (Actinotrichida, Trombidioidea: Trombiculidae) share a host. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 76, 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-0293-4
Nadchatram, M. & Dohany, A.L. (1974) A pictorial key to the subfamilies, genera and subgenera of Southeast Asian chiggers (Acari, Prostigmata, Trombiculidae). Bulletin—Institute for Medical Research, Malaysia, 16, 1–67.
Nielsen, D.H., Robbins, R.G. & Rueda, L.M. (2021) Annotated world checklist of the Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae (1758–2021) (Acari: Trombiculoidea), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy, and distribution. Zootaxa, 4967 (1), 1–243 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4967.1.1
Ogrzewalska, M., Literak, I., Martins, T.F. & Labruna, M.B. (2014) Rickettsial infections in ticks from wild birds in Paraguay. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 5, 83–89 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2013.08.004
Oudemans, A.C. (1910) Acarologische Aanteekeningen XXXIII. Entomologische Berichten, Amsterdam, 3, 83–90.
Oudemans, A.C. (1911) Acarologische Aanteekeningen XXXV. Entomologische Berichten, Amsterdam, 3, 118–126.
Oudemans, A.C. (1912) Die bis jetzt bekannten Larven von Thrombidiidae und Erythraeidae. Zoologische Jahrbücher, Supplement 14, 1–230.
Rack, G. (1971) Die Entomologischen Sammlungen des Zoologischen Instituts und Zoologischen Museums Hamburg. Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut, 67, 109–133.
Radford, C.D. (1954) The larval genera and species of “harvest mites” (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Parasitology, 44, 247–276. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182000018898
Reed, J.T. & Brennan, J.M. (1975) The subfamily Leeuwenhoekinae in the Neotropics (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Brigham Young University Science Bulletin, Biological Series, 20 (1), 2–42.
Stekolnikov, A.A. (2018) Taxonomy and distribution of African chiggers (Acariformes, Trombiculidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, 395, 1–233. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.395
Stekolnikov, A.A. (2021) A checklist of chigger mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) of Southeast Asia. Zootaxa, 4913 (1), 1–163. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4913.1.1
Stekolnikov, A.A. & González-Acuña, D. (2010) Four new species of chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) of the genus Eutrombicula from Chile. International Journal of Acarology, 36, 313–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/01647951003685667
Stekolnikov, A.A., Literák, I., Capek, M. & Havlíček, M. (2007) Chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) from wild birds in Costa Rica, with a description of three new species. Folia Parasitologica, 54, 59–67. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2007.008
Stekolnikov, A.A., Shamsi, M., Saboori, A., Zahedi Golpayegani, A. & Hakimitabar, M. (2021) Distribution of chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) over hosts, parasitopes, collection localities, and seasons in northern Iran. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 86, 21–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00680-w
Vercammen-Grandjean, P.H. (1965) Trombiculinae of the world, synopsis with generic, subgeneric, and group diagnoses (Acarina, Trombiculidae). George Williams Hooper Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, California, 191 pp.
Webb, J.P. Jr. & Loomis, R.B. (1970) Four species of Microtrombicula (Acarina: Trombiculidae) from Mexico and Nicaragua. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 69, 133–144.
Webb, J.P. Jr. & Loomis, R.B. (1971) Trombiculid mites of the genus Microtrombicula (Acarina) from Costa Rica. Contributions in Science (Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History), 207, 1–15.
Wharton, G.W. & Hardcastle, A.B. (1946) The genus Neoschöngastia (Acarinida: Trombiculidae) in the Western Pacific area. Journal of Parasitology, 32, 286–322. https://doi.org/10.2307/3272682