Grand challenges in feather mite biology

In the 26 years since Gaud and Atyeo (1996) published their seminal work “Feather Mites of the World”, remarkable progress has been made in increasing the number of described feather mite species and host-mite records. Advances in molecular genetic methods are shedding light on relationships both among higher taxa and within species. Nevertheless, there are aspects of these research areas that need further study, as well as many other important areas of feather mite biology that have been almost unexplored since the works of V.B. Dubinin in the 1950’s (e.g., Dubinin, 1951). In this presentation I outline what I feel are desirable targets for future feather mite studies, some of which will be more challenging to achieve than others.