Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons^™

Some Laelapine Mites (Acari: Laelapidae) Ectoparasitic On Small Mammals In The Galapagos Islands, Including A New Species Of Gigantolaelaps From Aegialomys Galapagoensis, Donald D. Gettinger, Fernanda Martins-Hatano, Scott Lyell Gardner

Scott L. Gardner Publications

A collection of laelapine mites from small mammals in the Galapagos Islands are identified and their host distributions reviewed. Two species of native rodents, Aegialomys galapagoensis and Nesoryzomys narboroughii, were infested only with species typical of Neotropical oryzomyine rodents; Rattus rattus was infested with Laelaps nuttalli, a host-specific ectoparasite to Old World Rattus. A synopsis of Gigantolaelaps Fonseca is provided and we describe a new laelapine mite, Gigantolaelaps aegialomys n. sp., from the pelage of the rodent A. galapagoensis on Santa Fe Island. The new species has strong morphological affinities with a subgroup of Gigantolaelaps associated with …