南西諸島における医動物学的研究 : VI. 奄美大島のアマミノクロウサギと野鼠類の恙虫について

Abstract

Trombiculid mites were collected directly from rodents (Black rat, Rattus rattus and Amami Spinous Country-rat, Tokudaia oshimensis oshimensis) and Amami-rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi from February 1975 to October 1975 in Amami Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan (Fig. 1). 1. In results, 6.435 trombiculid mites consisting of 8 genera and 14 species were collected from 183 Amami Spinous Country-rat, 84 Black rats, and of 4,467 consisting of 7 genera 10 species from 6 Amami-rabbits (Tables 1 and 2). 2. L. kawamurai was the most dominant species in rodents. D. zentokii, which was not detected in the collection of unengorged larvae from soils, was collected from the rodents. 3. W. pentalagi was the most dominant species in Amami-rabbit but that was never found in rodents (Table 4). In fact W. pentalagi was specific to the Amami-rabbit, and it was possible to discover this mites infesting the nest of the Amami-rabbit (Suzuki, 1975), this fact has not been known hitherto. 4. Most of trombiculid mites collected are peculiar species to Amami Island, only 3 genera 7 species out of 9 genera 18 species are common to those found in the main islands of Japan. 5. Variation of the trombiculid mites fauna found on host animals is considered to be strongly related to the differences of the natural environments in which they inhabit. This corresponds with the facts of collections of unengorged larval trombiculid mites (Suzuki, 1973) from the nest hole of the rabbit.