Ectoparasite fauna of rodents collected from two wildlife research centres in Saudi Arabia with discussion on the implications for disease transmission

The majority of human pathogens are zoonotic and rodents play an important role as reservoirs of manyof these infectious agents. In the case of vector-borne pathogens, rodent reservoirs not only act as a sourceof infection for vectors but also serve as hosts for the vectors themselves, supporting their populations.Current data on rodent-ectoparasite relationships is limited in Saudi Arabia, however, this is needed toassess disease risk and the relative importance of different hosts for the maintenance of vector-bornepathogen cycles. In order to provide baseline data for the region that could be used to assess zoonoticdisease risk, we collected and identified 771 ectoparasite specimens (ticks, fleas and mites) from 161rodents at two wildlife research centres in Saudi Arabia and discuss our results in the context of possiblezoonotic disease risk based on the hosts and vectors present.Deanship of Scientific Research at the King Saud University through the research group project number RGP_VPP_020, a University of Pretoria Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to A. Harrison and by the DST-NRF South African Research Chair of Behavioural Ecology and Physiology awarded to N.C. Bennett.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/actatropica2016-07-31hb201

The chiggerflea Hectopsylla pulex (Siphonaptera: Tungidae) as an ectoparasite of free-tailed bats (Chiroptera: Molossidae)

In the present study, we investigated the prevalence and intensity of Hectopsylla pulex infection in Molossus rufus and Molossus molossus, the parasite's choice of attachment site, and whether this host-parasite system varies with host size. Twenty-four bats were captured by hand from the roof of a house in Southeastern Brazil. M. rufus exhibited a prevalence of 71.4% and the mean intensity averaged 5 ectoparasites per bat. M. molossus exhibited a prevalence of 90%, and the average mean intensity was 2.11 ectoparasites. The attachment sites were: ear, tragus, shoulder blade and tibia, anus, wing, axilla, mouth and dactylopatagium. A positive correlation was observed between the bats' weight and the number of fleas

Mise à jour taxonomique et répartition des puces du genre Ctenophthalmus

Taxonomic update and geographic distribution of fleas of the genus Ctenophthalmus Kolenati 1856 in the Western Palearctic Region (Insecta: Siphonaptera: Ctenophthalmidae). Among fleas (Siphonaptera), the genus Ctenophthalmus is the one that comprises the largest number of taxa and is also characterized by a large geographical range. Here, we present a taxonomic revision of the Western Paleartic subgenera, groups, species and subspecies. We recognized a total of 143 taxa (57 species and 86 subspecies). These taxa are clustered into 23 groups of species, which fall into seven of the 16 subgenera of the genus Ctenophthalmus. According to Hopkins & Rothschild (1966), the subgenus Ctenophthalmus would only include the agyrtes group, itself divided into subgroups. We decided to raise these subgroups to group status to clarify taxonomic relationships within the subgenus Ctenophthalmus. Within this subgenus, the arvernus group is renamed baeticus, the fransmiti group is confirmed, and the egregius group is created. For each taxon, we provided information on geographical distribution, mammalian hosts, and host specificity