Ectoparasites of Eastern and Western Meadowlarks from the Rio Grande Plains of South Texas

Abstract

Seasonal abundance of ectoparasites was estimated from monthly collections of Eastern (Sturnella magna (L.)) and Western (Sturnella neglecta Audubon) meadowlarks in Starr County, Tex. Ecological relationships of ticks, Amblyomma maculatum Koch, Amblyomma inornatum (Banks), and Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard) (Acari: Ixodidae); lice, Menacanthus sturnellae Price (Mallophaga: Menoponidae) and Bruelia picturata (Osburn) (Mallophaga: Philopteridae); and louse fly, Microlynchia pusilla (Speiser) (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) are discussed. New host records are noted for A. inornatum, M. sturnellae, and a single specimen of Columbicola macrourae (Wilson) (Mallophaga: Philopteridae) from an Eastern meadowlark. Recovery of three genera of astigmatid mites, one genus of prostigmatid mites, and three genera of mesostigmatid mites is mentioned.