Rodent ectoparasites from two locations in northwestern Florida.

Abstract

From Feb.-Apr. 1999, 19 species of ectoparasitic arthropods (2 sucking lice, 4 fleas, 4 ticks, 2 mesostigmatid mites, 5 chiggers, 2 fur mites) were recovered from 106 rodents belonging to 5 species (cotton mouse, Peromyscus gossypinus, n = 64; cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, n = 23; eastern woodrat, Neotoma floridana, n = 9; golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli, n = 9; eastern gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, n = 1) at Tall Timbers Research Station, Leon County, Florida. During the same period, 13 species of ectoparasites (2 sucking lice, 1 flea, 3 ticks, 3 mesostigmatid mites, 2 chiggers, 2 fur mites) were recovered from 57 rodents belonging to 3 species (S. hispidus, n = 40; black rat, Rattus rattus, n = 16; S. carolinensis, n = 1) from Panama City, Bay County, Florida. Noteworthy ectoparasite records include Ixodes minor from both sites, which extends the known geographical range of this tick, and Stenoponia americana from Tall Timbers that represents the second documented Florida record of this flea. Potential tick vectors (Dermacentor variabilis and Ixodes scapularis) of zoonotic pathogens (Rickettsia rickettsii and Borrelia burgdorferi) were collected at both sites. On S. hispidus, fleas were more prevalent at Tall Timbers but sucking lice, chiggers, ticks, mesostigmatid and listrophorid mites all were more prevalent at the Panama City site. Arthropods recovered from arboreal nests (n = 3) of O. nuttalli at Tall Timbers included 3 species of ectoparasites (1 tick, 2 laelapid mites).