title: Diversity of feather mites (Acari: Astigmata) on Darwin's finches.
abstract: Feather mites are a diverse group of ectosymbionts that occur on most species of birds. Although Darwin's finches are a well-studied group of birds, relatively little is known about their feather mites. Nearly 200 birds across 9 finch species, and from 2 locations on Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, were dust-ruffled during the 2009 breeding season. We found 8 genera of feather mites; the most prevalent genus was Mesalgoides (53-55%), followed by Trouessartia (40-45%), Amerodectes and Proctophyllodes (26-33%), Xolalgoides (21-27%), Analges and Strelkoviacarus (0-6%), and Dermoglyphus (2-4%). There was no evidence for microclimatic effects (ambient temperature and relative humidity) on mite diversity. Host body mass was significantly correlated with mean feather mite abundance across 7 of 8 well-sampled species of finches. Certhidea olivacea, the smallest species, did not fit this pattern and had a disproportionately high number of mites for its body mass.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112.
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Bohec
authors.forename: Jennifer A H
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Koop
authors.forename: Heather C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Proctor
authors.forename: Dale H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Clayton
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004484:Ecuador / Q000453:epidemiology; D005241:Feathers / Q000469:parasitology*; D046369:Finches / Q000469:parasitology*; D006813:Humidity; D062312:Islands / Q000453:epidemiology; D008924:Mite Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008925:Mites / Q000145:classification*; D015995:Prevalence; D013696:Temperature