Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-dwq4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-01T18:31:50.329Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A new acarine parasite of bats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

R F. Lawrence
Affiliation:
Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Extract

The parasites described in this paper were taken from twelve specimens of the Natal horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus geoffroyi zuluensis) found in a cave near Wartburg, Natal, in May 1937. Thirteen specimens of the parasite were taken from the vibrissae situated on or near the nose-leaf of the host, each of them being attached near the base of one of these tactile hairs. No single vibrissa was found to have more than one parasite attached to it. The largest number of mites taken from any one host animal was four, the smallest was one, and none were found on any part of the body other than the facial region. With the aid of a hand lens the parasites can easily be seen clinging to the nasal vibrissae, where they appear as minute white specks. So far as I am aware mites of the family Listrophoridae have not previously been described or recorded from South Africa.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1938

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)