The Ectoparasites of Some Mammals from the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

Abstract

an area of about 40 miles long and 20 miles across at their widest part. The areas where trapping was done included grassland, oak woodland, pinyonjuniper, and Douglas fir-yellow pine associations. The desert grassland area is located between the towns of Rodeo and Portal on the east side of the mountains. The oak woodland is located along the lower reaches of Cave Creek between Portal and the American Museum of Natural History's Southwestern Research Station. The pinyon-juniper types are along the road between the research station and Onion Gap and the town of Paradise. The Douglas fir-yellow pine habitat is between Onion Gap and Rustlers Park near the top of the mountain. The mammals taken from the desert grassland were Merriam's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami Mearns), silky pocket mouse (Perognathus flavus Baird), desert pocket mouse (Perognathus penicillatus Woodhouse), Harris' antelope ground squirrel (Citellus harrisii (Audubon and Bachman)), spotted ground squirrel (Citellus spilosoma (Bennett)), white-throated wood rat (Neotoma albigula Hartley), southern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus (Coues)), cactus mouse (Peromyscus eremicus Baird), and deer mouse (P. maniculatus sonoriensis (LeConte)). From the oak woodland, which follows Cave Creek and its tributaries, we captured the brush mouse (Peromyscus boylii (Baird)), silky pocket mouse, a coati (Nasua narica (L.)) and the cliff chipmunk (Eutamias dorsalis (Baird)). From the pinyon-juniper habitat we took the brush mouse, the rock mouse (Peromyscus nasutus (J. A. Allen)), the Mexican wood rat (Neotoma mexicana Baird) and the cliff chipmunk. A white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) that had been taken from this habitat was also examined. The Mexican wood rat and cliff chipmunk were taken at the upper edge of the pinyon-juniper habitat where there is a close association with the Douglas fir-yellow pine association. From this latter habitat we captured the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus rufinus (Merriam) ), western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis (Baird)), rock mouse, brush mouse, Mexican wood rat and the cliff chipmunk. The animals were collected by setting out lines of snap traps through the several habitat types. The traps were placed one to the station, with stations about 30 feet apart. The traps were baited with peanut butter and left out for 3 days. A total