| abstract | Descriptions are given of karyotypes, developmental instars, and host associations of the cheyletoid mite Harpyrhynchus novoplumaris sp. n. The karyotypes strongly suggest the haplo-diploid method of sex determination, with n = 2. There is a strong possibility that the species is arrhenotokous. The developmental stages for both sexes of the mite consist of egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, and adult; all stages subsequent to the egg exhibit sexual dimorphism and are easily distinguishable from each other. Adult females and female deutonymphs are relatively immobile and occur at the bases of feathers, in the region of the head, neck, and breast; the other stages move freely over the skin of the host. Oviposition occurs at the base of a feather, the eggs being laid serially and enclosed in a semifibrous sheath that envelops the female as well. A brown creeper examined thoroughly for degree of infestation had 85 attached female mites; the maximum number of eggs per female was 48. Lack of success in collecting ovipositing females at seasons other than the spring suggests that the parasiteʼs reproductive season is correlated with that of its hosts. On two separate occasions both H. novoplumaris and H. brevis were collected from the same host specimens. H. novoplumaris has to date been taken from the type host (the brown creeper, Certhia familiaris), and from six additional host species, representing four families of passeriforms. The mite occurs across North America, from Maryland to California. |