Acari of lizards from Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil

Camila Nascimento De Oliveira,Ikaro Henrique Mendes Pinto Campos,Jaqueline Bianque De Oliveira,Geraldo Jorge Barbosa De Moura

doi:10.3897/neotropical.14.e34840

Camila Nascimento De Oliveira, Ikaro Henrique Mendes Pinto Campos + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.14.e34840

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Journal: Neotropical Biology and Conservation	Publication Date: Apr 11, 2019
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Abstract

Although mites are often associated with reptiles, there is little information available about parasites of lizards in Brazil. The aim of this study was to identify the ectoparasites of the lizards Kentropyx calcarata (Squamata: Teiidae), Hemidactylus mabouia (Squamata: Gekkonidae) and Tropidurus hispidus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) from northeastern Brazil. The lizards were captured during the dry season at Mata de Tejipió, a fragment of Atlantic Forest, located in the municipality of Recife, state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Eutrombicula sp. (Acari: Trombiculidae), Geckobia hemidactyli and Geckobiella harrisi (Acari: Pterygosomatidae) were found associated with adult lizards of K. calcarata, H. mabouia, and T. hispidus, respectively. Mites were found in skin folds of the throat and post femoral regions (Eutrombicula sp.), “mite-pockets” (G. harrisi); and in axillary, dorsal, ventral and pelvic regions (G. hemidactyli). In Brazil, this study widens the known geographical distribution of Geckobiella harrisi on T. hispidus and G. hemidactyli on H. mabouia. In addition, K. calcarata is recorded as a new host of Eutrombicula sp. These findings show the importance of ectoparasites as a tool for ecological and biogeographic studies.

Highlights

Studies about host-parasite interactions are important to comprehend ecological relationships, providing information about the biology and conservation of the species (Bush et al 2001)
Several families of mites are described as reptile ectoparasites (Fajfer, 2012), but only the families Harpirhynchidae (Fain, 1964), Heterozerconidae (Flechtmann and Johnston, 1990), Trombiculidae (Carvalho et al 2006; Rocha et al 2008; Delfino et al 2011; Menezes et al 2011), Pterygosomatidae (Delfino et al 2011) and Macronyssidae (Barbosa et al 2006) have been recorded from Brazilian Squamata
Morphological characteristics that facilitate the attachment of ectoparasites are the “mite-pockets” (Bertrand and Modrý, 2004), imbricate scales (Menezes et al 2011), skin folds (Bauer et al 1990; Carvalho et al 2006), axillary and post-femoral regions (Delfino et al 2011)