Rhinoecius alifanovi Butenko, 1976
Fig 75 (a). Rhinoecius alifanovi female dorsal habitus.
Fig 75 (b). Rhinoecius alifanovi female dorsum.
Fig 75 (c). Rhinoecius alifanovi female venter.
North American host records:
Strigidae:
Asio flammeus,
Short-eared Owl
(Knee et al. 2008) (has been recorded from A. flammeus in
Russia by Butenko (1976))
Diagnostic characteristics:
- subposterior
pair of dorsal podosomal setae on posterior margin of podosomal
shield, and much < 70 µm long
- posterior margin of sternal shield straight, st1 and st2 on shield, and
shielding does not extend far beyond st1
- paranal setae anterior to anal opening, and postanal seta present
Note:
- R. alifanovi, R. brikinboricus, R. grandis, and R. nycteae
comprise the Rhinoecius "grandis" species complex. These four
species are difficult to separate. In particular, the sternal shield morphology
used to separate species is not always consistent across individuals for a
particular species. I find host species to be the best character to delineate
among these species.
References:
Butenko, O.M. 1976. New species of rhinonyssid mites (Gamasoidea, Rhinonyssidae), parasitic in owls.
Parazitologiya (St. Petersburg),
10: 303-309.
Knee, W., Proctor,
H., and Galloway, T. 2008. Survey of nasal mites (Rhinonyssidae,
Ereynetidae, and Turbinoptidae)
associated with birds in Alberta and
Manitoba, Canada. Canadian Entomologist, 140: 364-379.