Trouessartia crucifera Gaud, 1957

Mironov, Sergey V. & Galloway, Terry D., 2019, Feather mites of the genus Trouessartia Canestrini (Acariformes: Trouessartiidae) from swallows (Passeriformes: Hirundinidae) in Canada, Zootaxa 4568 (1), pp. 1-39 : 24

Trouessartia crucifera Gaud, 1957

( Fig. 17 D–G, 21A, B)

Trouessartia crucifera Gaud, 1957: 128 , figs. 9A, D, 11F; Santana 1976: 42, figs. 83–86; Arutunjan and Mironov 1983: 320, figs. 1, 2; Gaud and Atyeo 1986: 271, figs. 4b, d, f.

Material examined: 1 male (ZISP 14014) Hirundo rustica erythrogaster (Boddaert, 1783) ( Passeriformes : Hirundinidae ), ARGENTINA, Corrientes Province, Estancia Ricón de Luna, 10 November 1961, coll. W.H. Partridge; 1 male, 6 females (ZISP 14 005–14 011), same host species, PANAMA, Coclé Province, Agua Dulce, 12 September 1925, coll. R.R. Benson.

Trouessartia crucifera is the only species constituting the crucifera group. This species was originally described from Hirundo rustica Linnaeus in Morocco ( Gaud 1957). Further, it was found on this host in Europe, Africa and Central America ( Cuba) and also on related hirundinid species, H. dimidiata Sundevall , H. lucida Hartlaub and Cecropis abyssinica (Guérin-Méneville) in Africa and on C. daurica (Laxmann) in Thailand ( Černý 1967; Mironov 1996; Gaud & Atyeo 1986). On Hirundo species, this mite was often found together with T. appendiculata and T. microcaudata ( Gaud & Atyeo 1986; Mironov 1996).

Among Trouessartia species associated with hirundinids, T. crucifera is characterized by the unique structure of the genital apparatus which is flanked laterally by the paragenital apodemes, and the opisthosomal lobes being separated by a long, narrow terminal cleft. Gaud and Atyeo (1986) suggested this species is close to the appendiculata group. In our opinion, the presence of long and distally unfused opisthosomal lobes in males ( Fig. 17D ) is evidence that this species is more likely related to the stelgidopteryx group.

We did not find Trouessartia crucifera infesting swallows from Canada, but considering its wide distribution in the Old World and also the presence of this species on H. r. erythrogaster in South America, it is likely this mite occurs in North America as well.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Trouessartia species, details of males. Trouessartia stelgidopteryx: A—ventral view of genital apparatus and opisthosoma, B—tibia and tarsus IV, C—setae si, c2, c3 and sRIII; T. crucifera: D—ventral view of genital apparatus and opisthosoma, E, F—genue I and II, G—tibia and tarsus IV, H—setae si, c2, c3 and sRIII. Abbreviations: ad—adanal apodeme, ea—epiandrum, bs—basal sclerite, is—intermedial sclerite, lg—latigenital sclerite, pg—paragenital apodeme, pm—paramere.