The first record of Promyialges uncus (Acariformes: Epidermoptidae) on the louse fly Ornithomya chloropus (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) in the subpolar Ural

Feather mites are a vast group of astigmatan mites (Astigmata: Analgoidea and Pterolichoidea) being permanent and highly specialized parasites and commensals of birds (Gaud and Atyeo 1996; Proctor 2003). The family Epidermoptidae (Analgoidea) consists of four subfamilies: Epidermoptinae, Lukoschuscoptinae, Myialginae and Otocoptoidinae, and includes about 57 species from 16 genera (Mironov et al. 2005). Feather mites of the family Epidermoptidae are ectoparasites, all stages of which are located on the skin of their hosts (Dubinin 1953; Fain 1965; Mironov 1987, 1999; Mironov et al. 2005). Some representatives of the subfamily Epidermoptinae and all genera of the subfamily Myialginae show phoretic relations with louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) and also chewing lice (Phthiraptera) parasitizing birds. Fertilized females of these mites use these parasitic insects for dispersal and infesting new host individuals and, in some genera, for feeding and egg laying (Cooreman 1944; Goater et al. 2018; Mironov et al. 2005; Yamauchi and Kuroki 2009; Valim and Gazeta 2007).