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Ectoparasites of rodents in Southern Africa: a new species of Androlaelaps Berlese, 1903 (Acari: Parasitiformes: Laelapidae) from Rhabdomys pumilio (Sparrman) (Rodentia: Muridae)

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Abstract

Androlaelaps rhabdomysi n. sp. is described from the pelage of the endemic rodent Rhabdomys pumilio (Sparrman) in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The formal taxonomic description and illustrations are derived from adults (female and male) and deutonymphs. The specimens are similar in appearance to two congeneric species A. dasymys (Radford, 1939) and A. fahrenholzi (Berlese, 1911), but differ in the following features: genital shield long and almost parallel-sided; metapodal shield elongate; and anal shield longer than wide. Furthermore, the pilus dentilis on the fixed cheliceral digit of A. rhabdomysi is a rather broad sausage-shape and slightly constricted medially, whereas in the other two species it has an inflated base and is slender distally.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Western Cape Nature Conservation for permits and assistance with fieldwork and also private landowners and managers for their involvement in the project. We are grateful to M. van Rooyen, P. le Roux, C. Boonzaaier and C. Matthee for field and technical assistance. The project was funded by the National Research Foundation (a fellowship to SM), the University of Stellenbosch and BIOTA southern Africa. We also wish to convey our greatest thanks and appreciation to Prof. Frank Radovsky of the Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA, for his critical review of an early draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa

    Sonja Matthee

  2. ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Private Bag X134, Queenswood, Pretoria, 0121, South Africa

    Edward A. Ueckermann

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  1. Sonja Matthee
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  2. Edward A. Ueckermann
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Correspondence to Sonja Matthee.

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Matthee, S., Ueckermann, E.A. Ectoparasites of rodents in Southern Africa: a new species of Androlaelaps Berlese, 1903 (Acari: Parasitiformes: Laelapidae) from Rhabdomys pumilio (Sparrman) (Rodentia: Muridae). Syst Parasitol 70, 185–190 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-008-9130-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-008-9130-1

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