Review of external morphology of Chirorhynchobiidae (Acari: Sarcoptoidea) with description of a new species

Abstract

Two species of Chirorhynchobiidae, Chirorhynchobia glossophaga sp. n. and Chirorhynchobia matsoni Yunker, 1970 are described and redescribed, respectively. The male of C. glossophaga and the tritonymph of C. matsoni are the first to be described in the family. The mites are ectoparasites living on the wing membrane of phyllostomid bats Glossophaga soricina (Pallas) from Peru and Anoura geoffroyi Gray from several localities. Females of the new species differ from those of C. matsoni by the shorter idiosoma (length 439-450 versus 497-562 in C. matsoni), by the dorsal position of setae 4a (terminal in C. matsoni), and by the narrower posterior projections of the propodonotal shield (width 6 versus 17). Although the morphology of Chirorhynchobiidae is strongly regressive, homologies of the leg and idiosomal setae in these mites with those of other Astigmata are established. The combination of absence of famulus epsilon and solenidia sigmaI-II and presence of solenidia omega1I-II and omega3I in these mites is shared with the Rhyncoptidae-Sarcoptidae clade, suggesting a possible relationship with those groups.