New records of feather mites (Astigmata: Analgidae, Avenzoariidae, Proctophyllodidae) from the blackcap, Saunders's tern and osprey in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Four feather mites - Analges spiniger Giebel, 1871 (Analgidae), Pandionacarus fuscus (Nitzsch, 1818), Zachvatkinia issykkulica Chirov, 1978 (Avenzoariidae), and Proctophyllodes sylviae Gaud, 1957 (Proctophyllodidae) - are reported for the first time in Saudi Arabia. Males and females of A. spiniger and Pr. sylviae were collected from the blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla dammholzi Stresemann, 1928 (Passeriformes), while Z. issykkulica and P. fuscus specimens were collected from the Saunders's tern, Sternula saundersi (Hume, 1877) (Charadriiformes) and the osprey, Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Accipitriformes), respectively. The families Analgidae and Proctophyllodidae, as well as the genus Pandionacarus, are new to this country.