Laelaps manguinhosi is a species of parasitic mite in the family Laelapidae

Laelapidae

Laelapidae is a family of mites in the order Mesostigmata.-Genera:* Aetholaelaps Strandtmann & Camin, 1956* Alphalaelaps Radford, 1951* Andreacarus Radford, 1953* Androlaelaps Berlese, 1903* Angosomaspis Costa, 1971...

. In the United States, 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) in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. Other recorded hosts include the sigmodontine rodents Scapteromys aquaticus, Akodon azarae, Oligoryzomys flavescens, and Holochilus brasiliensis in Argentina and Oryzomys couesi and Handleyomys melanotis in Mexico. In Venezuela, it mainly infects the oryzomyines Holochilus sciureus and Nectomys

Nectomys

Nectomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It is closely related to Amphinectomys and was formerly considered congeneric with Sigmodontomys...

, but it has also been recorded on a variety of other mammals and even on a bird. A separate subspecies, Laelaps manguinhosi calvescens, has been described from the ichthyomyine rodent Neusticomys venezuelae.

Literature cited

• Estébanes-González, M.L., Sánchez-Hernández, C., Romero-Almaraz, M. de L. and Schnell, G.D. 2011. Ácaros parásitos de roedores de Playa de Oro, Colima, México. Acta Zoológica Mexicana 27(1):169–176 (in Spanish).
• Furman, D.P. 1972. Laelapid mites (Laelapidae: Laelapinae) from Venezuela (PDF). 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 (PDF). Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 98(1):45–49.
• 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.