The Proctophyllodidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of the Acarina (

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

)

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Astigmata Astigmatina is a clade of mites in the superorder Acariformes. Astigmata has been ranked as an order or suborder in the past, but was lowered to the unranked clade Astigmatina of the clade Desmonomatides (synonym Desmonomata) in the order Sarcopt ...

. They contain many feather mites. The Alloptidae and Trouessartiidae were in earlier times included here as

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

. Proctophyllodidae females are extremely similar among

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

and sometimes even hard to assign to a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, while males vary much more. Two subfamilies are generally recognized, the Proctophyllodinae and the Pterodectinae. The main difference is that the female pregenital apodeme and epimerites IV are separated, while in the latter they are connected and form a distinct structure.

General

Feather mites (subclass Acarina, family Proctophyllodinae) are ectoparasites that live in between the barbs of feathers and are found on nearly every bird species currently described. It was previously believed that these mites had a parasitic relationship with their hosts but it is now thought that most species are more commensal with their hosts. Morphological studies have provided strong evidence for this with feather mite mouthparts being identified as unstructured for biting on solid material. Instead it is suggested that they feed on oils and fats secreted from the uropygial gland as well as pollen, fungus and dead epidermis tissue that is trapped within it.

Morphology

Feather mites are streamlined; strongly dorsoventrally flattened with short legs and well-developed

ambulacra Ambulacrum is an architectural word that denotes an atrium, courtyard, or parvise in front of a basilica or church that is surrounded by arcades or colonnades, or trees, and which often contains a fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fon ...

that act as a hold-fast organ. Being of the order

, they have biting mouhtparts with a very small gnathosoma compared to body size.

Transmission

Morphological constraints suggest that adult mites are nearly immobile. Transmission of mites has been shown to occur largely between direct interactions between parents and offspring and possibly during gregarious interactions between flock individuals. Observations of restricted species contamination on Falconiformes have supported this observation. Birds of prey have the greatest chance of cross contamination through interactions with their prey and yet have very stable acarofauna groups are found exclusively on those species. The

European cuckoo The common cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. I ...

, a

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...

, has also been found to have their own species of mite even though the parents and offspring never interact (but see Lindholm ''et al.'', 1998)

Selected genera

Proctophyllodinae * '' Allodectes'' Gaud & Berla, 1963 – tentatively placed here * '' Anisophyllodes'' Atyeo, 1967 * '' Bradyphyllodes'' Atyeo and Gaud, 1970 * '' Diproctophyllodes'' Atyeo and Gaud, 1968 * '' Favettea'' Trouessart, 1915 * '' Hemipterodectes'' Berla, 1959 * '' Joubertophyllodes'' Atyeo & Gaud, 1971 * '' Monojoubertia'' Radford, 1950 * '' Nycteridocaulus'' Atyeo, 1966 * '' Philepittalges'' Atyeo, 1966 * ''

Proctophyllodes ''Proctophyllodes'' is a genus of feather mites, found on passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perc ...

'' Robin, 1868 * '' Ptyctophyllodes'' Atyeo, 1967 * '' Tanyphyllodes'' Atyeo, 1966 Pterodectinae * '' Afroproterothrix'' Mironov & Wauthy, 2010 * '' Amerodectes'' Valim & Hernandes, 2010 * '' Anisodiscus'' Gaud & Mouchet, 1957 * '' Dolichodectes'' * '' Megalodectes'' * '' Montesauria'' Oudemans, 1905 * '' Neodectes'' * '' Pedanodectes'' * '' Proterothrix'' Gaud, 1968 * '' Pterodectes'' Robin, 1877 – possibly not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

* '' Syntomodectes'' * '' Toxerodectes'' * '' Trochilodectes'' * '' Xynonodectes''

General

Morphology

Transmission

Selected genera

References

Further reading