Gigantolaelaps mattogrossensis is a mite

Mite

Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

 from the Americas. It has been found on the marsh rice rat

Marsh Rice Rat

The marsh rice rat is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, from New Jersey and Kansas south to Florida and northeasternmost Tamaulipas, Mexico; its range previously extended further west and north, where it may...

 (Oryzomys palustris), hispid cotton rat

Hispid Cotton Rat

The Hispid Cotton Rat is a rodent species long thought to occur in parts of South America, Central America, and southern North America. However, recent taxonomic revisions, based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, have split this widely distributed species into three separate species. Carroll et...

 (Sigmodon hispidus), black rat

Black Rat

The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...

 (Rattus rattus), brown rat

Brown Rat

The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....

 (Rattus norvegicus), and white-footed mouse

White-footed mouse

White-footed Mouse is a rodent native to North America. It ranges from Ontario, Quebec, Labrador and the Maritime Provinces to the southwest USA and Mexico. It is also known as the Woodmouse, particularly in Texas.Adults are in length, not counting the tail, which can add another . A young adult...

 (Peromyscus leucopus) in the United States (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas). In Venezuela, it has been recorded from Holochilus brasiliensis, Sigmodon hirsutus, and Marmosa robinsoni. In Argentina, it has been found on Scapteromys aquaticus, Oligoryzomys flavescens, and Holochilus brasiliensis. The North American form was first described as a separate species, Gigantolaelaps cricetidarum, and is still occasionally considered as such.

Literature cited

• Carmichael, J.A., Strauss, R.E. and McIntyre, N.E. 2007. Seasonal variation of North American form of Gigantolaelaps mattogrossensis (Acari: Laelapidae) on marsh rice rat in southern coastal Texas. Journal of Medical Entomology 44(1):80–84.
• Furman, D.P. 1972. Laelapid mites (Laelapidae: Laelapinae) from Venezuela. Brigham Young University Science Bulletin 17(3):1–58.
• Nava, S., Lareschi, M. and Voglino, D. 2003. Interrelationship between ectoparasites and wild rodents from northeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 98:5 pp.
• 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.