Genus: Dermanyssus Dugès, 1834

Dermanyssus Dugès, 1834: 5 .

Type species Acarus gallinae De Geer, 1778 .

Historical reviews of the genus Dermanyssus can be found in Evans & Till (1962), Moss (1968, 1978) and Roy & Chauve (2007, 2010). The genus includes about 30 valid species from all climatic zones of the world, all of which are obligate haematophagous ectoparasites of birds. Five of these species are credibly recorded from Slovakia, namely D. americanus, D. carpathicus, D. chelidonis, D. gallinae, and D. hirundinis . Roy et al. (2009a, 2010) recorded D. longipes from Slovakia, but we here consider those specimens to belong to D. hirundinis (see "Dubious species from Slovakia " below). Nosek & Lichard (1962) identified D. passerinus from Slovakia, but that record is also regarded as dubious.