ISSN 1911-2173

Fig 73 (a). Rhinoecius brikinboricus female dorsal habitus.

Fig 73 (b). Rhinoecius brikinboricus female dorsum.

Fig 73 (c). Rhinoecius brikinboricus female venter.
 

North American host records:
Strigidae:
Asio otus, Long-eared Owl (Knee et al. 2008) (has been recorded from A. otus in Russia by Butenko (1976))

Diagnostic characteristics:
– subposterior pair of dorsal podosomal setae on posterior margin of podosomal shield, and much < 70 µm long
– sternal shield with posteromedial projection, st1 and st2 on shield, and shielding extends anteriorly beyond st1
– paranal setae anterior to anal opening, and postanal seta absent

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.

back