Mite fauna (Acari) associated with the poultry industry in different laying hen management systems in Southern Brazil: a species key

This study is based on results from a large project on the mite diversity in commercial laying hen systems in Brazil. It aims to identify potential biocontrol agents amongst mites present in poultry farms, with a focus on one feather mite pest Megninia ginglymura. A secondary goal is to provide an operational identification tool to help the development of biological control in poultry farms. Sampling was conducted from August 2013 to August 2014, with 43 sampling events, in three different laying hen management systems. We used traps, laying hen feathers, and abandoned wild bird nests to collect the mites. A total of 38,862 mites belonging to 23 families and 39 species were found, including 17 species exclusively found in traps, six in wild bird nests, and one in feathers. The most abundant and frequent ectoparasitic species was M. ginglymura (76.3%; observed in all management systems). Amongst other mites, Tydeidae showed the highest richness with five species (Brachytydeus argentinensis (Baker, 1970), Brachytydeus australensis (Baker, 1970), Brachytydeus obnoxia (Kuznetzov and Zapletina, 1972), Brachytydeus oregonensis (Baker, 1970), and Brachytydeus tuttlei (Baker, 1965)), followed by Cheyletidae with four species (Chelacheles bipanus Summers and Price, 1970, Cheyletus eruditus (Schrank, 1781), Cheyletus malaccensis (Oudemans, 1903), and Cheletomimus (Hemicheyletia) wellsi (Baker, 1949)). Potential predatory species for biological control were C. malaccensis (9.4%), Typhlodromus transvaalensis (Nesbitt, 1951) (0.8%), Blattisocius keegani (Fox, 1947) (0.7%), and Blattisocius dentriticus (Berlese, 1918) (0.4%). A dichotomous key is provided to identify 48 species dwelling in Brazilian layer farms.