Aulonastus similis n. sp., a new quill mite species (Syringophilidae) parasitising passeriform birds (Tyrannidae and Cardinalidae) in Mexico

A new quill mite species, Aulonastus similis n. sp. (Acariformes: Syringophilidae), parasitising Myiozetetes similis (Spix) (Tyrannidae) and Habia fuscicauda (Cabanis) (Cardinalidae) in Mexico is described and DNA barcode sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) and D1–D3 region of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene are provided. Morphologically, females of A. similis are close to A. euphagus Skoracki, Hendricks & Spicer, 2010 but differ from this species in the length ratios of the idiosomal setae: ve:si (2–2.3:1 vs 1:1) and f2:f1 (4.7–6.3:1 vs 3.3:1).

For a long time, quill mites have been under an extensive taxonomic investigations based entirely on the external morphology (Kethley, 1970;Bochkov & Mironov, 1999;Fain et al., 2000;Skoracki, 2011). However, recent application of molecular tools to syringophilids taxonomy has contributed to both, extending the standard of new species descriptions (Glowska et al., 2012a, b) and verification of compatibility between morphological and molecular delimitations of species boundaries (Glowska et al., 2013(Glowska et al., , 2014. In the present paper, a new species of quill mite, Aulonastus similis n. sp., parasitising passerine birds of the families Tyrannidae (new host family for the genus) and Cardinalidae in Mexico (a new locality for Aulonastus spp.) is described using standard morphological data extended by the generation of novel DNA barcode sequences.

Animal material
Mites used in the study were collected from the body feathers of the social flycatcher Myiozetetes similis (Spix) (Tyrannidae) and the red-throated ant-tanager Habia fuscicauda (Cabanis) (Cardinalidae) in Mexico in 2008. Each covert was completely removed from the bird and dissected under an Olympus ZS30 stereomicroscope. Mites were preserved in 96% ethanol and, before mounting on microscopic slides, individually subjected to DNA extraction. Vouchers were mounted on slides in Faure's medium. Drawings were made with an Olympus BH2 microscope with differential interference contrast (DIC) optics and a camera lucida. All measurements and scale-bars in the figures are given in micrometres. The nomenclature for idiosomal setation is after Grandjean (1939) with modifications adapted for Prostigmata by Kethley (1990), and the nomenclature for leg setation is after Grandjean (1944). The application of these chaetotaxic schemes to Syringophilidae was recently provided by Bochkov et al. (2008) with changes by Skoracki (2011). Latin and common bird names follow Clements et al. (2014). The type-material is deposited in the following depositories: Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland (AMU); Museum of Zoology of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA (UMMZ); Colección Nacional de Á caros, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico (CNAC). The voucher material and the corresponding DNA samples are deposited in the collection of AMU under the identification numbers as indicated below.

DNA barcodes
We sequenced 609 bp of the 5 0 -terminus of the cox1 gene and 1,148 bp comprising D1-D3 region of 28S rDNA for three specimens collected from Myiozetetes similis and three specimens collected from Habia fuscicauda. The cox1 sequences revealed two different haplotypes specific for each population. They vary in one nucleotide position leading to no amino acid substitution. The conspecific status of both populations (from M. similis and H. fuscicauda) is also supported by the 28S rRNA gene fragment because all analyzed specimens showed no variation.

Remarks
The new species is morphologically most similar to Aulonastus euphagus Skoracki, Hendricks & Spicer, 2010, described from the Brewer's blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus (Wagler) (Passeriformes: Icteridae) in the USA (Skoracki et al., 2010). In females of both species, the transverse and longitudinal branches of the peritremes are represented by 1 and 4-5 chambers, respectively, the propodonotal shield is punctate, the unstriated hysteronotal shield is fused to the pygidial shield, genital setae are subequal in length and coxal fields I-IV are delicately punctate or without punctation. Females of A. similis n. sp. differ from A. euphagus in the length ratios of setae ve:si 2-2.3:1 and f2:f1 4.7-6.3:1. In females of A. euphagus, setae ve and si are subequal in length and the length ratio of setae f2:f1 is 3.3:1. The presence of A. similis n. sp. on two phylogenetically distant hosts belonging to different passerine suborders (Passeri and Tyranni) suggests a distribution resulting from horizontal transfer between two host species rather than cophylogenetic processes.
Ethical approval All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The collection of mites in Mexico was made under the license No FAUT-0209 issued by the Dirección General de Vida Silvestre (Mexico).
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