
Feather mites are the members of diverse
mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...
superfamilies:
*
superorder
Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...
Acariformes
The Acariformes, also known as the Actinotrichida, are the more diverse of the two superorders of mites. Over 32,000 described species are found in 351 families, with an estimated total of 440,000 to 929,000 species, including undescribed speci ...
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Psoroptidia
Psoroptidia is a parvorder of the Acari (mite) group Astigma (or Astigmatina). It comprises around 40 families, and apparently originated as parasites of birds, before a secondary radiation saw some taxa become parasites of mammals. Because of th ...
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Analgoidea
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Freyanoidea
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Pterolichoidea
* superorder
Parasitiformes
Parasitiformes are a superorder of Arachnids, constituting one of the two major groups of mites, alongside Acariformes. Parasitiformes has, at times, been classified at the rank of order or suborder.
It is uncertain whether Parasitiformes and Ac ...
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Dermanyssoidea
Dermanyssoidea is a superfamily of mites, including most of the mites which parasitise vertebrates.
Families
Dermanyssoidea contains 21 families:
* Dasyponyssidae
* Dermanyssidae
* Entonyssidae
* Haemogamasidae
* Halarachnidae
* Hirstionys ...
They are
ectoparasite
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
s on
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, hence the common name.
References
{{Animal common name
Ectoparasites
Parasitic acari
Parasites of birds
Arthropod common names