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Infracommunity dynamics of chiggers (Trombiculidae) parasitic on a rodent

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2015

KARLIEN BARNARD ,
BORIS R. KRASNOV ,
LEE GOFF  and
SONJA MATTHEE
KARLIEN BARNARD
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7600, South Africa
BORIS R. KRASNOV
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel
LEE GOFF
Affiliation:
Department of Plant & Environmental Protection, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 3050 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
SONJA MATTHEE*
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7600, South Africa
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private bag X1, 7602, South Africa. E-mail: smatthee@sun.ac.za
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Summary

We studied the structure of chigger mite (Trombiculidae) communities parasitic on a South African rodent, Rhabdomys pumilio. We aimed to determine whether: (a) different chigger species differ in preferences for certain body areas of a host and (b) chigger assemblages among body areas of the same host individual, are structured and if so, whether the structure of these assemblages is aggregative or segregative. Rhabdomys pumilio is parasitized by seven chigger species belonging to six genera. The three most abundant species (Leptotrombidium sp. nr. muridium, Schoutedenichia sp. and Neoschoengastia sp. A) displayed a non-random distribution across the host body, with the two most abundant species (L. sp. nr. muridium and Schoutedenichia sp.) significantly associated with the tail area. In addition, whenever non-randomness of chigger co-occurrence in the same body area was recorded, it indicated positive but not negative co-occurrences of different species. This might be due to similarity of chigger species in resource needs and strategies to avoid host defence efforts.

Keywords

subinfracommunity structureTrombiculidaeRhabdomys pumiliobody areas
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 142 , Issue 13 , November 2015 , pp. 1605 - 1611
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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