Two New Myocoptidae (Acari, Astigmata) from North American Rodents

Abstract

Two new species of Myocoptidae (Acari, Astigmata) are described: Myocoptes neotomae sp. n. from Neotoma floridana and Trichoecius gettingeri sp. n. from Peromyscus leucopus both from the USA. Myocoptes neotomae sp. n. differs from M. musculi by the absence of scales posterior to the hysteronotal shield, by the greater length of 12 as compared to d2 in the female, and by the much shorter dl and d2 and the longer penis in the male. Trichoecius gettingeri differs from T. tenax by the shorter epimeres III, the much shorter setae 11, dl and d2, the absence of 12 in the female, the absence of dorsal striations, the poorly developed epimeres I-II and the small size of male legs IV. Information on myocoptids in general and North American myocoptids in particular has been summarized in Fain et al. (1970) and Fain and Hyland (1970), and information on ectoparasites of mammals of Indiana has been recently summarized by Whitaker (1982). We describe herein two new myocoptids from North American rodents: Myocoptes neotomae sp. n. from Neotoma floridana from Indiana and Trichoecius gettingeri sp. n. from Peromyscus leucopus from Pennsylvania. Measurements are in Aum unless noted.