Genus Aulonastus Kethley

The genus Aulonastus comprises 12 species associated with passeriform birds of the families Cardinalidae, Emberizidae, Fringillidae, Icteridae, Laniidae, Motacillidae, Muscicapidae, Prunellidae, and Troglodytidae (a new host family for this genus). Mites of this genus occupy broad spectrum of the microhabitats. They have been found inside feather quills of secondaries, coverts and body feathers. To this time, the members of the genus Aulonastus have been known only from the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions (Skoracki et al. 2010a; Skoracki 2011). Below we give a description of a new species from material collected in Ecuador (the Neotropical region).