Chigger Mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) of Chiloé Island, Chile, With Descriptions of Two New Species and New Data on the Genus Herpetacarus

• Published in: Journal of Medical Entomology
• Main Authors: Silva-de la Fuente, María Carolina, Stekolnikov, Alexandr A, Weitzel, Thomas, Beltrami, Esperanza, Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza, Abarca, Katia, Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo
• Other Authors: Ginsberg, Howard, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2020
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa258; http://academic.oup.com/jme/article-pdf/58/2/646/36584794/tjaa258.pdf

Abstract Three species of chigger mites are recorded in our collections from four species of cricetid rodents on Chiloé Island (southern Chile, Los Lagos Region), an area endemic to scrub typhus (Orientia sp.). Two species are described as new—Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) eloisae sp. nov. and Quadraseta chiloensis sp. nov. One species, Paratrombicula goffiStekolnikov and González-Acuña 2012, is for the first time recorded on a mammal host (one species of cricetid rodent), and its distribution is extended to the Los Lagos Region of Chile. The genus ProschoengastiaVercammen-Grandjean, 1967 is synonymized with the subgenus Herpetacarus (Abonnencia)Vercammen-Grandjean, 1960, and four new combinations are established: Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) herniosa (Brennan and Jones, 1961), comb. nov., Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) insolita (Brennan and Jones, 1961), comb. nov., Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) macrochaeta (Brennan and Jones, 1961), comb. nov., and Herpetacarus (Abonnencia) antarctica (Stekolnikov and Gonzalez-Acuña, 2015), comb. nov.