Megniniella gallinulae (Buchholz, 1869)

Lee, Sue Yeon, Yoo, Jung Sun & Kim, Seung Tae, 2017, New record of four Korean feather mites (Acari: Sarcoptiformes: Pterolichidae) isolated from the birds in the family Rallidae, Journal of Species Research 6, pp. 152-163 : 158-163

4. Megniniella gallinulae (Buchholz, 1869)

ijȁ닭꼬HfflũϢΞή (ṵḓ) ( Figs. 7, 8)

Synonyms. Dermaleicus gallinulae Bucholz, 1869, p. 27 -28, fig. 14.

Megniniella gallinulae Gaud, 1968, p. 10 -12, fig. 2; Almeida Pedroso and Hernandes, 2016, p. 6 -8, figs. 7, 8.

Material examined. Korea: 2♂♂, 1$$, Dongsan-ri, Gwangsi-myeon, Yesan-gun , Chungcheongnam-do, 36° 35 ʹ 15.91 ʺ N, 126°47 ʹ 16.65 ʺ E, Sept 17, 2013, collected using a vacuum machine from tail feathers of the common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus by Han Y.-D .

Diagnosis. Male: Length 510-520 of idiosoma from anterior end to bases of setae h3. Width 285-295 at level of humeral shields ( Fig. 7A).

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 7B): Length 73-75 including palps, Width 68.

Prodorsal shield ( Fig. 7B): Narrow trapezoidal-shaped, posterolateral part slightly acute, with length 123-125 along midline, width 65-67 at level of setae se. Two internal vertical setae (vi) present.

Hysteronotal shield ( Fig. 7C, E): Anterior part convex, anterolateral angles slightly acute, with vertical stripes, length 385-400 from anterior margin to bases of setae h3, width 195-205 at anterior margin. Opisthosomal lobes well developed, with large and acute apices. Terminal cleft oval-shaped. Supranal concavity opens posteriorly. Terminal cleft oval-shaped.

Sternum ( Fig. 7D): Epimerites I fused as elongated Y-shape, surrounded by sclerotized area. Adanal shield large, with pair of longitudinal band-shaped soft tegument.

Female: Idiosoma length 365, width 235 at level of humeral shields ( Fig. 8A).

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 8A): Shaped as in male, length 63 including palps, width 58.

Prodorsal shield ( Fig. 8B): Mostly shaped as in male, length along center line 100, width 63 at level of setae se.

Hysteronotal shield ( Fig. 8C): Present, anterior part rounded, length 158 from anterior end to setae h3, width 105 at level of setae e2.

Sternum ( Fig. 8D): Epimerites I Y-shape. Epigynum bow-shape, length 10, width 30 at level of setae 4b.

Remarks. Megniniella gallinulae was originally described by Buchholz (1869) based on the specimens collected from Gallinula chloropus in Europe. Thereafter, M. gallinulae was redescribed by several mite taxonomists with detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations ( Gaud, 1968; Almeida Pedroso and Hernandes, 2016). The morphology of the Korean male specimens was consistent with the descriptions and illustrations of Gaud (1968).

Megniniella gallinulae is distinguishable from other species in the genus Megniniella by several characteristics: (1) epimerites I fused as elongated Y-shape in males; (2) anterior part of hysteronotal shield rounded in male; and (3) hysteronotal shield present, anterior region rounded in female.

Host. Specimens were collected from the surface of tail feathers of common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus .

World distribution. Brazil ( Almeida Pedroso and Hernandes, 2016), Cameroun, Congo, Rwanda ( Gaud, 1968), China ( Wang and Fan, 2010), Korea (This study).

Deposition. NIBRIV000000812253 and NIBRIV000000 812357-812358.

Molecular data. The COI sequence was obtained from one individual and deposited in GenBank with accession numbers of MG545268.

Identifiers. Yeong-Deok Han and Gi-Sik Min.