Mise à jour taxonomique et répartition des puces du genre Ctenophthalmus Kolenati 1856 en région paléarctique occidentale (Insecta : Siphonaptera : Ctenophthalmidae)

Summary. Taxonomic update and geographic distribution of fleas of the genus Ctenophthalmus Kolenati 1856 in the Western Palearctic Region (Insecta: Siphonaptera: Ctenophthalmidae). Among fleas (Siphonaptera), the genus Ctenophthalmus is the one that comprises the largest number of taxa and is also characterized by a large geographical range. Here, we present a taxonomic revision of the Western Paleartic subgenera, groups, species and subspecies. We recognized a total of 143 taxa (57 species and 86 subspecies). These taxa are clustered into 23 groups of species, which fall into seven of the 16 subgenera of the genus Ctenophthalmus. According to Hopkins & Rothschild (1966), the subgenus Ctenophthalmus would only include the agyrtes group, itself divided into subgroups. We decided to raise these subgroups to group status to clarify taxonomic relationships within the subgenus Ctenophthalmus. Within this subgenus, the arvernus group is renamed baeticus, the fransmiti group is confirmed, and the egregius group is created. For each taxon, we provided information on geographical distribution, mammalian hosts, and host specificity.     

滇西亚种树鼩体外寄生虫自然感染状况及分析

目的调查滇西亚种树鼩体外寄生虫的自然感染状况,为建立树鼩质量控制标准提供依据。方法对野生的滇西亚种树鼩和自繁F1代树鼩各60只分别用尸检法和活体法检测,随即采用拔毛或用透明胶带粘取腋下、耳根、腹股沟、肛门附近等处的毛发制片,置于体视镜和显微镜下观察虫体和虫卵。结果野生滇西亚种树鼩和自繁F1代树鼩体外寄生虫自然感染率分别为：虱子25%/6%、蚤5%/0、蜱1.6%/0、水蛭1.6%/0、虱子和蚤混合感染1.6%/0。结论野生树鼩体外寄生虫的自然感染多为虱子和蚤,其次还有蝉、水蛭,总感染率明显高于自繁F1代。使用灭虱灵对于驱除树鼩体外寄生虫具有较好的疗效。     

云南高黎贡山蚤类的生态区系

本文报道了１９８５年以来对我甸横断山南端高黎贡山东、西坡蚤类生态区系的调查及研究结果。共发现蚤类５科２３属４７种（亚种）。文中对该山脉蚤类在不同森林植物带的群落结构、种的多样性及均匀度,各种蚤的栖境幅度、宿主多样性进行了陈述和比较,并对蚤类的区系特征、特有种的区系划分等问题进行了讨论。     

Sex-biased parasitism,seasonality and sexual size dimorphism in desert rodents

We investigated seasonality of gender differences in the patterns of flea infestation in nine rodent species to test if sex-biased parasitism in terms of mean abundance, species richness, prevalence and the level of aggregation (a) varies among hosts and between seasons, and (b) is linked to sexual size dimorphism. Sexual size differences were significant in both summer and winter in Acomys cahirinus, Gerbillus pyramidum and Meriones crassus, and in winter only in Acomys russatus, Gerbillus dasyurus, Gerbillus nanus and Sekeetamys calurus. Sexual size dimorphism was male biased except for A. russatus in which it was female biased. Manifestation of sexual differences in flea infestation was different among hosts between seasons. A significant effect of sex on mean flea abundance was found in six hosts, on mean flea species richness in five hosts and on prevalence in two hosts. Male-biased parasitism was found in summer in one host only and in winter in five hosts. Female-biased parasitism occurred in winter in A. russatus. Gender differences in the slopes of the regressions of log-transformed variances against log-transformed mean abundances occurred in three hosts. No relationship was found between sexual size dimorphism and any parasitological parameter in any season using both conventional regressions and the method of independent contrasts. Our results suggest that sex-biased parasitism is a complicated phenomenon that involves several different mechanisms.     

Similarity in ectoparasite faunas of Palaearctic rodents as a function of host phylogenetic, geographic or environmental distances: Which matters the most?

Different host species harbour parasite faunas that are anywhere from very similar to very different in species composition. A priori, the similarity in the parasite faunas of any two host species should decrease with increases in either the phylogenetic distance, the distinctness of the environments occupied or the geographical distance between these hosts. We tested these predictions using extensive data on the faunas of fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) and gamasid mites (Acari: Parasitiformes) parasitic on rodents across the Palaearctic. For each pair of host species, we computed the similarity in parasite faunas based on both species composition as well as the phylogenetic and/or taxonomic distinctness of parasite species. Phylogenetic distances between hosts were based on patristic distances through a rodent phylogeny, geographic distances were computed from geographic range data, and environmental dissimilarity was measured from the average climatic and vegetation scores of each host range. Using multiple regressions on distance matrices to assess the separate explanatory power of each of the three dependent variables, environmental dissimilarity between the ranges of host species emerged as the best predictor of dissimilarity between parasite faunas, especially for fleas; in the case of mites, phylogenetic distance between host species was also important. A closer look at the data indicates that the flea and mite faunas of two hosts inhabiting different environments are always different, whilst hosts living in similar environments can have either very similar or dissimilar parasite faunas. Additional tests showed that dissimilarity in flea or mite faunas between host geographic ranges was best explained by dissimilarity in vegetation, followed by dissimilarity in climatic conditions. Thus, external environmental factors may play greater roles than commonly thought in the evolution of host-parasite associations.     

Ecological characteristics of flea species relate to their suitability as plague vectors

The ability of vector-borne diseases to persist and spread is closely linked to the ecological characteristics of the vector species they use. Yet there have been no investigations of how species used as vectors by pathogens such as the plague bacterium differ from closely related species that are not used as vectors. The plague bacterium uses mammals as reservoir hosts and fleas as vectors. The ability of different fleas to serve as vectors is assumed to depend on how likely they are to experience gut blockage following bacterial multiplication; the blockage causes fleas to regurgitate blood into a wound and thus inject bacteria into new hosts. Beyond these physiological differences, it is unclear whether there exist fundamental ecological differences between fleas that are effective vectors and those that are not. Here, using a comparative analysis, we identify clear associations between the ability of flea species to transmit plague and their ecological characteristics. First, there is a positive relationship between the abundance of flea species on their hosts and their potential as vectors. Second, although the number of host species exploited by a flea is not associated with its potential as a vector, there is a negative relationship between the ability of fleas to transmit plague and the taxonomic diversity of their host spectrum. This suggests a correlation between some ecological characteristics of fleas and their ability to develop the plague blockage. The plague pathogen thus uses mainly abundant fleas specialized on a narrow taxonomic range of mammals, features that should maximize the persistence of the disease in the face of high flea mortality, and its transmission to suitable hosts only. This previously unrecognized pattern of vector use is of importance for the persistence and transmission of the disease.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available to authorised users in the online version of this article at .     

Sampling fleas: the reliability of host infestation data

The use of measures of host infestation as a reliable indicator of a flea population size to be used in interspecific comparisons was considered. The abundance of fleas collected from host bodies and collected from host burrows was compared among 55 flea species, controlling for the effect of flea phylogeny. The mean number of fleas on host bodies correlated positively with the mean number of fleas in host burrows/nests both when the entire data pool was analysed and for separate subsets of data on 'fur' fleas and 'nest' fleas. This was also true for a within-host (Microtus californicus) between-flea comparison. The results of this study demonstrate that, in general, the index of host body infestation by fleas can be used reliably as an indicator of the entire population size.     

湖北大巴山东部蚤类区系组成及垂直分布

采用常规与沿雪线调查方法,对大巴山东部具代表性的7个不同海拔梯度及6个不同生境类型,连续进行了11年调查和研究。结果表明：1)在所获得的8科28属51种9 974只蚤类中,有25种隶属于古北界,占49.02%,21种属于东洋界,占41.18%,5种广布,占9.80%; 经个体数量区系处理,古北和东洋两界蚤类区系数量（37.97%,50.30%）并不完全与物种区系相吻合,但东洋蚤类区系数量与古北物种区系相当;2）大巴山东部蚤类垂直分布的区系特点是,1 500 m以下东洋成分占绝对优势,1 600～2 300 m古北成分达44.82%～56.41%,但个体区系数量却在33.47%～60.16%之间,物种区系成分与数量区系分布并不完全一致; 一些东洋界特有指示性质的巴山盲鼠蚤和它的寄主猪尾鼠,仍可分布到这一地带;当海拔上升到2 600 m,古北成分已稳定达55.00%,此地带已不见东洋界特有指示性质的巴山盲鼠蚤和它的寄主猪尾鼠的踪迹,当海拔上升到2 800～2 980 m,古北成分和个体数量分别已达65.00%和89.51%;3）在大巴山东部51种蚤类中,有24种在秦岭有分布,占秦岭已知34种的70.58%,两座山系古北成分也相当,分别为49.02%及52.94%。最后按区系、宿主动物、植被带谱和地理状况相近原则,对张金桐等（1989）对秦岭南坡的蚤类海拔高度划线1 000～2 000 m进行修订,并上移至2 600 m左右地带,修订后的划线,其具体位置及走向大体与暗针叶林的下限保持一致。此线以上,无论蚤种或是数量都以古北界成分为主,低于此线,古北、东洋成分和一些特有指示性质的种类相互渗透。     

Functional and phylogenetic uniqueness of helminth and flea assemblages of two South African rodents

The loss of a particular species from a community may have different effects on its functioning, depending on the presence or absence of functionally similar or phylogenetically close species in that community (redundancy). Redundancy is thus defined as the fraction of species diversity not expressed by functional or phylogenetic diversity. We assessed functional and phylogenetic alpha- and beta-redundancy in helminth and flea assemblages of two species of South African rodents, Rhabdomys dilectus and Rhabdomys pumilio, using community uniqueness as the inverse indicator of redundancy. We asked whether patterns of functional and phylogenetic alpha- and beta-uniqueness differed between (i) parasite groups (endo- versus ectoparasites), (ii) host species within parasite groups, and (iii) biomes within host species. We found differences between the two hosts in the functional and phylogenetic alpha-uniqueness (but not beta-uniqueness) of flea, but not helminth, assemblages. Significant correlations between the alpha-uniqueness of parasite assemblages and the total parasite prevalence were found only for phylogenetic uniqueness and only in helminths. Pairwise site-by-site dissimilarities in uniqueness (beta-uniqueness) and pairwise dissimilarity in prevalence were significantly associated (positively) in helminths but not in fleas. A between-biome difference in functional (but not phylogenetic) alpha-uniqueness was found in both helminth and flea assemblages harboured by R. pumilio. We conclude that the resilience of parasite assemblages in terms of the effect on hosts depends not only on their transmission strategy but also on traits of host species and environmental factors.     

Trypomastigotes and potential flea vectors of the endemic rodents and the introduced Rattus rattus in the rainforests of Madagascar

Transmission of parasites and diseases may be one of the mechanisms for the displacement of native and endemic rodents of Madagascar (subfamily Nesomyinae) by the introduced Rattus rattus (subfamily Murinae). We studied the occurrence of trypomastigotes in rodents at several rainforest sites on the island. Examination of blood smears showed Trypanosoma lewisi-like trypomastigotes in 11.5% of the R. rattus (n = 52). Trypomastigotes differing in morphology from those of T. lewisi were detected in 4% of the endemic rodent Nesomys rufus (n = 23). In contrast to the relatively heavy infections found in R. rattus, only a few trypomastigotes were found in the infected N. rufus. Trypomastigotes were not found in other nesomyine rodents including Eliurus minor (n = 18), E. tanala (n = 15), E. grandidieri (n = 12), E. majori (n = 9) or E. webbi (n = 9). Of potential vectors of trypomastigotes, six endemic species of fleas were identified from the rodents.