Mites Associated With The Small Ground Finch, Geospiza fuliginosa (Passeriformes: Emberizidae), From The Galapagos Islands

In collections of ectoparasites from 368 small ground finches, Geospiza fuliginosa, in populations from the islands of Isabela, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, and Santa Fe, in the Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador, we found 8 species of mites. Four mite species were common on all islands sampled, i.e., Mesalgoides geospizae Mironov and Perez (Psoroptoididae), Xolalges palmai Mironov and Perez (Xolalgidae), and 2 new species, Trouessartia geospiza n. sp. (Trouessartiidae) and Proctophyllodes darwini n. sp. (Proctophyllodidae). Four other species were represented by single collections from G. fuliginosa, i.e., Pterodectes atyeoi n. sp. (Proctophyllodidae), Strelkoviacarus sp. (Analgidae), Dermoglyphus sp. (Dermoglyphidae), and Dermanyssus sp. (Dermanyssidae). Authorship of new species names is attributed to the 3 authors who prepared the descriptions (B.M.O.C., J.F., D.L.). Trouessartia geospiza and P. atyeoi were also found on previously collected specimens of other Geospiza species in museum collections. For the 4 common species, we found no differences in prevalence among the 4 island populations, but infection prevalence differed among the 4 species. The mean infection prevalence was high for T. geospizae (89%), moderate for M. geospizae (58%) and X. palmai (44%), and low for P. darwini (26%) in all populations. The feather mite fauna of G. fuliginosa was similar to that of other Geospiza species, and generally related to communities found on other emberizid finches.