Passeroptes gaudi Vassilev and Kolebinova 1965, comb. nov

Passeroptes gaudi (Vassilev and Kolebinova, 1965) comb. nov. (Figs. 10, 11) Rivoltasia gaudi Vassilev and Kolebinova, 1965: 161, figs. 1���4 Passeroptes sturninus Arutunjan and Mironov, 1983: 324, figs. 12, 13 syn. nov. Redescription. FEMALE (10 specimens). Body 220���255 long and 150���165 wide. Idiosomal shields without ornamentation, soft idiosomal cuticle striated, without scales or tubercules. Distance between propodonotal and hysteronotal shields about 20. Propodonotal shield 60���65 long and 65���70 wide, posterolateral extensions encompassing bases of setae se, in some specimens also bases of si. Setae se at least 3 times longer than si. Hysteronotal shield 90���105 long and 60���65 wide. Setae d 2 present. Humeral shields without dorsal valves. Coxal fields III closed. Adanal shields widely separated from each other, moderately sclerotized. Legs III and IV subequal, 100���115 long. Femora III and IV each with 1 ventral moderately developed retrorse projection. Other projections on posterior legs absent. Rudimental solenidion �� 1 present on tarsi I. Lengths of setae: se 55���60, cp 100���115, c 3 70���75, h 2 190���230, h 3 and ps 2 50���55, d II 70 ���75, d III���IV 60 ���65, �� 3 and �� 1 I about 25, ��I��� II 30, ��III and ��IV about 3, �� 1 I about 17, and ��II about 3. Material examined. 10 females ex Sturnus vulgaris (Linnaeus) (Passeriformes: Sturnidae), RUSSIA: Kaliningrad Province, Curonian spit, Rybachy village, 55 ��09' 15 " N, 20 �� 51 ' 14 " E, 28 April 1958, coll. V. Jygis. Hosts and distribution. This species is known only from Sturnus vulgaris (Linnaeus) (Passeriformes: Sturnidae) from Bulgaria, Russia (Kaliningrad Province), and Armenia (Vassilev & Kolebinova 1965; Arutunjan & Mironov 1983; present publication). Remark. The description of Rivoltasia gaudi Vassilev and Kolebinova, 1965 (Dermationidae) from Sturnus vulgaris from Bulgaria (Vassilev & Kolebinova 1965) and revision of dermationids by Fain (1965) were published simultaneously. Therefore this species was not included in Fain���s revision. Later on, Arutunjan and Mironov (1983) described Passeroptes sturninus from the same host from Armenia, but were not aware of R. gaudi, because the latter species was, at that time, in a genus other than Passeroptes. We compared the description of R. gaudi and P. sturninus (based on the original descriptions and our additional material) and concluded that these two species are conspecific. Therefore, we transfer Rivoltasia gaudi to the genus Passeroptes and consider Passeroptes sturninus syn. nov. as a junior synonym of this species.
Published as part of Bochkov, Andre V. & Mironov, Sergey V., 2012, Mites of the genus Passeroptes Fain (Acariformes: Dermationidae) from passerines (Aves: Passeriformes) of North-Western Russia, pp. 43-57 in Zootaxa 3563 on pages 53-56, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.282948
{"references":["Vassilev, I & Kolebinova, M. (1965) Sur une nouvelle espece Analgesoidea - Rivoltasia gaudi n. sp. Comptes rendus de l'Academie bulgare des Sciences, 18, 161 - 164.","Arutunjan, E. S. & Mironov, S. V. (1983) New and little known species of analgoid-mites from the USSR. Academy of Sciences of Armenian SSR. Institute of Zoology, zoological papers, 19, 319 - 336.","Fain, A. (1965) A review of the family Epidermoptidae Trouessart parasitic on the skin of birds (Acarina: Sarcoptiformes). Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke vlaamse academie voor wetenschappen, letteren en schone kunsten van Belgie; Klasse der wetenschapen, 27, 1 - 176 (Pt. I, text), 1 - 144 (Pt. II, illustrations)."]}