Multidisciplinary analysis of Knemidocoptes jamaicensis parasitising the Common Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs: proofs for a multispecies complex?

ABSTRACT: The number of studies discussing the pathology and host specificity in Knemidocoptinae is very limited. In Knemidocoptes jamaicensis, the host specificity seems to be very broad, and there is a clear morphological variability in individuals originating from various bird species; hence, serious doubts appear about the species status of this mite. We report a multidisciplinary approach to the taxonomy, morphology, ecology, and pathology of K. jamaicensis. The source of the mites in our study was a second year aged female of the Common Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs, which accidentally died in the mist net during a field study in Dumbrava, Cluj County, Romania in March 2011. Comparisons of the biometrical data regarding the body dimensions, length of certain setae, and distances between bases o

SUBMITTER: Dabert J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3663986 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature