Laelaps (mite) explained

Laelaps is a genus of common parasitic mites in the family Laelapidae. Species, with their hosts, include:

• Laelaps acuminata – Oecomys^[1]
• Laelaps agilis – Rattus^[2]
• Laelaps alaskensis – Blarina, Clethrionomys, Craseomys, Dicrostonyx, Lemmiscus, Lemmus, Microtus, Mustela, Myotis, Napaeozapus, Ochrotomys, Ondatra, Onychomys, Parascalops, Peromyscus, Phenacomys, Poliocitellus, Sorex, Synaptomys, Thomomys^[3]
• Laelaps boultoni – Neacomys, Sigmodon, Oligoryzomys, Oecomys, Heteromys
• Laelaps castroi – Oligoryzomys^[1]
• Laelaps clethrionomydis – Clethrionomys, Craseomys,^[2] Microtus,^[4]
• Laelaps conula – Rhipidomys
• Laelaps crinigera – Oryzomyini
• Laelaps dearmasi – Zygodontomys
• Laelaps differens^[1]
• Laelaps echidnina – Rattus,^[5] Didelphis, Sigmodon,^[4] Mus, Peromyscus, Sylvilagus^[2]
• Laelaps evansi – Neofiber^[4]
• Laelaps exceptionalis – "wild rat"^[5]
• Laelaps flexa – Microryzomys^[1]
• (Berlese, 1918)^[6] – Lemniscomys
• Laelaps incilis – Microtus, Neotamias, Peromyscus^[2]
• Laelaps kochi – Blarina, Clethrionomys, Corynorhinus, Craseomys, Dicrostonyx, Dipodomys, Glaucomys, Microtus, Mustela, Napaeozapus, Neotamias, Neovison, Neurotrichus, Ondatra, Peromyscus, Phenacomys, Sigmodon, Sorex, Synaptomys, Tamias, Zapus^[3]
• Laelaps lavieri – Mus^[7]
• Laelaps lemmi – Lemmus^[2]
• Laelaps liberiensis – Mastomys
• Laelaps manguinhosi – Holochilus, Nectomys, Neusticomys, and various other mammals^[5]
• Laelaps mazzai – Calomys, Oligoryzomys
• Laelaps multispinosa – Castor, Didelphis, Microtus, Mustela, Neovison, Ondatra, Peromyscus, Procyon^[8]
• Laelaps muricola – Mastomys
• Laelaps muris – Microtus, Ondatra^[2]
• Laelaps navasi – Oryzomyini
• Laelaps nuttalli – Mus, Ochrotomys, Peromyscus,^[2] Rattus,^[5] Sciurus^[9]
• Laelaps ovata – Nephelomys^[5]
• Laelaps paulistanensis – Rhipidomys, Oryzomyini^[1]
• Laelaps pilifer – Oryzomyini^[1]
• Laelaps spicata – Oryzomyini
• Laelaps stupkai – Synaptomys^[9]
• Laelaps surcomata – Rhipidomys^[10]
• Laelaps thori^[5]

Unnamed or unidentified species have been reported on Gerbilliscus robustus and Acomys wilsoni in Tanzania^[11] and on the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) in Florida and Georgia.^[12]

Synonym of Dryptosaurus

In 1866, an incomplete theropod dinosaur skeleton (ANSP 9995) was found in New Jersey by workers in a quarry belonging to the upper part of the New Egypt Formation.^[13] Paleontologist E.D. Cope described the remains, naming the creature "Laelaps" ("storm wind", after the dog in Greek mythology that never failed to catch what it was hunting).^[14] "Laelaps" became one of the first dinosaurs described from North America (following Hadrosaurus, Aublysodon and Trachodon). Subsequently, it was discovered that the name "Laelaps" had already been given to a genus of mite, and Cope's lifelong rival O.C. Marsh changed the name in 1877 to Dryptosaurus.

See also

• List of parasites of the marsh rice rat

Literature cited

• Furman, D.P. (1972). "Laelapid mites (Laelapidae: Laelapinae) from Venezuela". Brigham Young University Science Bulletin 17(3):1–58.
• Matthee . Sonja . Horak . Ivan G. . Beaucournu . Jean-Claude . Durden . Lance A. . Ueckermann . Eddie A. . McGeoch . Melodie A. . Epifaunistic arthropod parasites of the four-striped mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio, in the Western Cape Province, South Africa . Journal of Parasitology . February 2007 . 93 . 1 . 47–59 . 10.1645/GE-819R2.1. 17436941 .
• Morlan, H.B. (1952). "Host relationships and seasonal abundance of some Southwest Georgia ectoparasites" (subscription required). American Midland Naturalist 48(1):74–93.
• Nazarizadeh . Masoud . Martinů . Jana . Nováková . Milena . Stanko . Michal . Štefka . Jan . Phylogeography of the parasitic mite Laelaps agilis in Western Palearctic shows lineages lacking host specificity but possessing different demographic histories . BMC Zoology . December 2022 . 7 . 1 . 15 . 10.1186/s40850-022-00115-y . 10127304 . 37170127 . free . The main lineages of L. muricola and L. giganteus diverged from L. agilis and L. clethrionomydis....
• Stanley, W.T., Rogers, M.A., Senzota, R.B.M., Mturi, F.A., Kihaule, P.M., Moehlman, P.D. and O'Connor, B.M. (2007). "Surveys of small mammals in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania". Journal of East African Natural History 96(1):47–71.
• Strandtman . R. W. . Mitchell . Carl J. . The Laelaptine Mites of the Echinolaelaps Complex from the Southwest Pacific Area . Pacific Insects . 15 October 1963 . 5 . 3 . 541–576 .
• Whitaker, J.O. and Wilson, N. (1974). "Host and distribution lists of mites (Acari), parasitic and phoretic, in the hair of wild mammals of North America, north of Mexico" (subscription required). American Midland Naturalist 91(1):1–67.
• Whitaker, J.O., Walters, B.L., Castor, L.K., Ritzi, C.M. and Wilson, N. (2007). "Host and distribution lists of mites (Acari), parasitic and phoretic, in the hair or on the skin of North American wild mammals north of Mexico: records since 1974". Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln 1:1–173.
• Worth, C.B. (1950). "Observations on ectoparasites of some small mammals in Everglades National Park and Hillsborough County, Florida" (subscription required). The Journal of Parasitology 36(4):326–335.
• Zumpt . F. . Till . W. M. . Notes on the classification and synonymy of gamasid mites parasitic on vertebrates (Acarina: Mesostigmata) . Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa . November 1958 . 21 . 2 . 10.10520/AJA00128789_2505 . 2024-04-05 . 10520/AJA00128789_2505 .

Notes and References

1. Furman, 1972, p. 20
2. Whitaker and Wilson, 1974, p. 10
3. Whitaker and Wilson, 1974, p. 10; Whitaker et al., 2007, p. 20
4. Whitaker et al., 2007, p. 20
5. Furman, 1972, p. 19
6. For use of specific binomen L. giganteus in scientific literature, see:
7. Stanley et al., 2007, p. 71
8. Whitaker and Wilson, 1974, p. 10; Whitaker et al., 2007, p. 21
9. Whitaker et al., 2007, p. 21
10. Furman, 1972, p. 18
11. Stanley et al., 2007, p. 70
12. Worth, 1950, p. 330; Morlan, 1952, table 2
13. "Dryptosaurus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, David B. The Age of Dinosaurs. Publications International, LTD. p. 112-113. .
14. Cope, E.D. (1866). "Discovery of a gigantic dinosaur in the Cretaceous of New Jersey." Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 18: 275-279.