Laelaps algericus Hirst 1925

Dataset
An annotated catalogue of the gamasid mites associated with small mammals in Asiatic Russia. The family Laelapidae s. str. (Acari: Mesostigmata: Gamasina): Rank
SPECIES

Classification

kingdom
Animalia: phylum
Arthropoda: class
Arachnida: order
Mesostigmata: family
Ascidae: genus
Laelaps: species
Laelaps algericus

discussion

Remarks. L. algericus is the only species of the genus known to serve as a reservoir host for Yersinia pestis — the causative agent of the plague (Zemskaya, 1973; Sludsky, 2014).

distribution

Distribution. North and Central Africa (Hirst, 1925; Tipton, 1960), Europe and Siberia (except the northern latitudes), Yunnan Province of Southern China (Huang et al., 2009). In Asiatic Russia, the species is known from Western Siberia and Transbaikalia (Davydova & Nikol’sky, 1986; Nikulina, 2004), but is a rare mite in Siberia (Davydova & Nikol’sky, 1986).

materials_examined

Type locality. Algeria, Tougourt. Type host. Mus algericus (Thomas, 1902). The identity of the binomen “ Mus algericus ” is obscure. Possibly, the type specimens of L. algericus were collected from Psammomys algiricus Thomas & Truessart, 1930 = P. obesus Cretzschmar, 1828 (G. Shenbrot, pers. comm.). Principal hosts. Mice of the genus Mus Linnaeus, 1758, especially Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758 (Zemskaya, 1973).

Name

Homonyms: Laelaps algericus Hirst 1925