title: Revision of the subfamily Onychalginae Fain, 1988 (Acariformes: Pyroglyphidae)-ectoparasites of passerine birds.
abstract: The subfamily Onychalginae Fain, 1988 (Acariformes: Pyroglyphidae) is a monophyletic lineage comprising the closest parasitic relatives of the free-living pyroglyphid house dust mites. Onychalgine mites parasitize passerine birds of the families Estrildidae, Passeridae, and Ploceidae in Africa and South America (a single record of Onychalges spinitarsis from a piciform bird requires confirmation). We revise this subfamily based on external morphology of adults and immature stages using light and scanning electron microscopy and give a key to species. Onychalginae includes 2 genera: Onychalges Gaud and Mouchet, 1959 (6 species) and Paramealia Gaud, 1968 (1 species). The genus Kivuicola Fain, 1971 syn. nov. is synonymized with Onychalges, and its single species K. kivuana Fain, 1971 syn. nov. is considered as a putative synonym of O. odonturus Gaud, 1968. Onychalges spinitarsis (Fain and Gaud, 1984) is considered as a species inquirenda.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Universitetskaya Embankment 1, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia.; Email: andrevbochkov@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andre V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Bochkov
authors.affiliation: Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Ave., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 USA.; Email: pklimov@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Pavel B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Klimov
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Universitetskaya Embankment 1, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia.; Email: andrevbochkov@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grootaert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008924:Mite Infestations / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D046109:Passeriformes; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*