Hello!
I'm studying bird ectoparasites in nestlings and to access eventual parasites in birds feathers I used duct-tape to take a "smear" of the feather.
I ended with images of something similar to mite eggs, but I can´t find what it is exactly. They are more abundant close to a collected feather. Zoom of 100x and 400x. Can anyone help me identify it or send me a helpful internet page?
Thank you.
Dear Barbara,
These don't look like mite eggs to me (mite eggs are usually oval, without dark "lumps"). My bet is pollen, which is often found on the bodies of birds, even if they're not the type to visit flowers.
Kind regards, Owen.
Dear Colleagues,
I am agree with Owen that these are not mite eggs. Mostly mite eggs are oval with not dark, but yellowish, whitish or grey color. For me it looks like pollen.
Best,
Bayar
Hi Barbara, Owen is spot on - definitely not mite eggs but pollen. The pollen looks very similar to that from pines - just Google "Pinaceae pollen morphology" and search on the images. All will be revealed! Cheers, Matt
Hi Barbara, do you want me to contact my colleagues from the Palynology Lab at the University? I'm sure they will be glad to identify your pollens...
Cheers, JE
Thank you all for your helpful answers. I'm sure it will be interesting to identify it and understand
Dear Barbara its pollen and no mite eggs, this especially clean see at last two pictures. Mites eggs formed clusters and are characteristic location depending of mite
Ivan
Hi Barbara, according to my colleague these are pollen from Pinaceae, probably from Pinus sp. based on position of the air sacs in the pollen grain.
Cheers, JE
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