Mites of the genus Megninia (Analgidae) parasitic upon Gallus gallus
1985 - Volume: 26 Issue: 2 pages: 171-182
Keywords
taxonomy
feather mites
domestic
chickens wild
turkeys
geographical distribution
Abstract
Three species of Megninia occur on domestic chickens: M. cubitalis (Megnin, 1877), M. ginglymura (Megnin, 1877) and M. ortari, n. sp. These mites have been confused in the literature for the past century; thus, hosts, geographical distribution and pathogenesis for each species can not be determined precisely. The domestic chicken had origins from ’wild’ chickens, that is subspecies of Gallus gallus. These subspecies can harbor M. cubitalis and M. ortari as do domestic chickens, but additionally, two other new species, M. crinita and M. dipeitata, neither of wich have been recovered from domestic birds. M. ginglymura is a parasite of wild turkeys. After domestication of the host, the mite species has successfully transferred to numerous Phasianidae of farmyards and zoos, in particular the domestic chicken. In wild chickens, it is usual to find M. dipeitata and one other species on individual birds. On domestic chickens, two species on one bird is rare even though several species of Megninia can occur in the same region.
Comments
Please read and follow the
instructions to post any comment or correction.