Version 1
: Received: 8 August 2024 / Approved: 8 August 2024 / Online: 9 August 2024 (03:59:05 CEST)
How to cite:
Sikora, B.; Kosicki, J. Z.; Patan, M.; Marcisova, I.; Hromada, M.; Skoracki, M. Diversity and Interactions Between Picobiine Mites and Starlings. Preprints2024, 2024080643. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0643.v1
Sikora, B.; Kosicki, J. Z.; Patan, M.; Marcisova, I.; Hromada, M.; Skoracki, M. Diversity and Interactions Between Picobiine Mites and Starlings. Preprints 2024, 2024080643. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0643.v1
Sikora, B.; Kosicki, J. Z.; Patan, M.; Marcisova, I.; Hromada, M.; Skoracki, M. Diversity and Interactions Between Picobiine Mites and Starlings. Preprints2024, 2024080643. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0643.v1
APA Style
Sikora, B., Kosicki, J. Z., Patan, M., Marcisova, I., Hromada, M., & Skoracki, M. (2024). Diversity and Interactions Between Picobiine Mites and Starlings. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0643.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Sikora, B., Martin Hromada and Maciej Skoracki. 2024 "Diversity and Interactions Between Picobiine Mites and Starlings" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0643.v1
Abstract
The subfamily Picobiinae (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) comprises obligate and permanent parasites of birds found exclusively in the quills of contour feathers. In this paper, we studied associations of picobiine mites with birds of the family Sturnidae (Aves: Passeriformes). Among the 414 examined bird individuals belonging to 44 species (35.2% of all sturnids), 103 individuals from 24 species (54.5% of examined species) were parasitised by quill mites. The diversity of mites was represented by five species, including one newly described, Picobia malayi Patan and Skoracki sp. n. Statistical analysis of the Picobiinae-Sturnidae bipartite network demonstrated a low connectance value (Con = 0.20) and high modularity, with significant differences in the H2' specialisation index compared to null model values. The network structure, characterised by four distinct modules, highlighted the specificity and narrow oligoxenous to mesostenoxenous nature of the mite-host associations. The distribution of Picobia species was congruent with the phylogeny of their starling hosts, with different mites parasitising specific clades of starlings. The findings suggest that the social and breeding behaviours of starlings influence quite a high prevalence. Finally, our studies support the validity of museum collections to study these parasitic interactions.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
