Feather mites are the members of diverse

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

superfamilies: *

superorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Acariformes The Acariformes, also known as the Actinotrichida, are the most diverse of the two superorders of mites. Over 32,000 described species are found in 351 families, with an estimated total of 440,000 to 929,000 species, including undescribed species ...

Psoroptidia Psoroptidia is a parvorder of the Acari (mite) group Astigma (or Astigmatina). It comprises around 40 families, and apparently originated as parasites of birds, before a secondary radiation saw some taxa become parasites of mammals. Because of t ...

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Analgoidea The Analgoidea are a superfamily of the Acarina (mite) order Sarcoptiformes. They contain many feather mites, being ectoparasites of birds and occasionally mammals. Families * Alloptidae Gaud, 1957 * Analgidae Trouessart & Mégnin, 1884 * A ...

*** Freyanoidea *** Pterolichoidea * superorder

Parasitiformes Parasitiformes are a superorder of Arachnids, constituting one of the two major groups of mites, alongside Acariformes. Parasitiformes has, at times, been classified at the rank of order or suborder. It is uncertain whether Parasitiformes and A ...

Dermanyssoidea Dermanyssoidea is a superfamily of mites, including most of the mites which parasitise vertebrates. Families Dermanyssoidea contains 21 families: * Dasyponyssidae *Dermanyssidae * Entonyssidae * Haemogamasidae *Halarachnidae * Hirstionyssid ...

They are

ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s on

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, hence the common name.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1400639 Ectoparasites Parasitic acari Parasites of birds Arthropod common names