Host specialization has contributed to the high diversity of laelapine mites associated with Neotropical rodents, but the lack of taxonomic development at the species-level has confounded study of the coevolutionary history of both host and ectoparasite groups. Morphometric comparisons of presumptive polyxenous laelapine species infesting a diverse assemblage of palustrine rodents in Paraguay clearly reveal that each host species is infested by a morphologically distinct mite population. The nominal taxa Laelaps manguinhosi, Gigantolaelaps goyanensis, and G. mattogrossensis may be composites of morphologically distinct but similar species with narrower host preferences. These results suggest that laelapine mites are primarily monoxenous, and that numerous currently unrecognized species may be discerned by standard morphometric techniques.
How to translate text using browser tools
15 June 2011
Host associations between laelapine mites (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) and palustrine rodents in Paraguay: a study of host specificity and cryptic species
Donald Gettinger,
Carl W. Dick,
Robert D. Owen
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Systematic and Applied Acarology
Vol. 16 • No. 2
June 2011
Vol. 16 • No. 2
June 2011
Acari
ectoparasites
host specificity
Laelapidae
Neo tropics
rodents