| abstract | The fowl cyst mite Laminosioptes cysticola (Vizioli, 1870), type of the genus Laminosioptes Megnin, 1880, is a cosmopolitan parasite found in the cellular subcutaneous tissues of turkeys and chickens. The genus Laminosioptes Mégnin is still monotypical. A second species, L. hymenopterus Jones & Gaud, 1962, has been attributed to this genus, but Lombert et al. (1979) have shown that it belongs in fact to the genus Calamicoptes Lukoschus & Lombert, 1979.
In the present paper, the genus Laminosioptes is redefined and its type species is redescribed. In addition, three new species, each representing a new subgenus in this genus are described: Passeriella reticulata subg.nov., sp.nov. from Coccothraustes migratorius (Passeriformes), Columbietta collaris subg.nov., sp.nov. from Columbigallina minuta (Columbiformes) and Psittaciella myiopsittae subg.nov., sp.nov. from Myiopsitta monachus (Psittaciformes). All these species were found under the skin of birds which had died in the Antwerp Zoo after a short time in captivity.
The holotypes of these new species are deposited in Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Brussels. |