A review of the fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) from Argentina

Abstract

The Order Siphonaptera comprises cosmopolitan haematophagous ectoparasites of birds and mammals. More than ten years have past since the last list of species known for Argentina. Herein we provide a review of the fleas from the country, which includes an updated list, host species and geographical distribution for each taxa, as well as some comments. We report 127 species and subspecies belonging to eleven different families; 42 of these species are endemic. Four genera (Adoratopsylla, Cleopsylla, Ctenidiosomus, and Nonnapsylla) and six species and subspecies (Adoratopsylla (Adoratopsylla) antiquorum antiquorum, Agastopsylla pearsoni, Polygenis (Polygenis) roberti beebei, Plocopsylla (Plocopsylla) silewi, Plocopsylla (Plocopsylla) wilesi and Tunga terasma) are added to the list for Argentina. Nine species new to science are included, described on the bases of specimens collected from Argentina (Ctenidiosomus austrinus, Ectinorus (Ectinorus) lareschiae, Ectinorus (Ectinorus) spiculatus, Ectinorus (Ectinorus) morenoi, Hectopsylla narium, Plocopsylla (Plocopsylla) linardii, Neotyphloceras crackensis, Neotyphloceras pardinasii and Tunga perforans). Information provided herein contributes to the knowledge of the fleas from Argentina, necessary to a better understanding of their role as parasites themselves and vectors of zoonotic importance.

An update on the distribution and nomenclature of fleas (Order Siphonaptera) of bats (Order Chiroptera) and rodents (Order Rodentia) from La Rioja Province, Argentina

“…Hectopsylla (Hectopsylla) gracilis infesting E. moreni constitutes a new flea-host association; this result was expected since H. ( H ) gracilis has been collected on Eligmodontia hirtipes and E. typus (Lareschi et al 2016). All localities correspond to the Monte Desert of Mountains and Isolated Valleys eco-region.…”

“…Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chubut, Córdoba, Jujuy, La Pampa, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro, Salta, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego, and Tucumán (Lareschi et al 2016). …”

“…Although some authors (Hopkins 1951; Lareschi et al 2016) consider there are two subspecies, C. m. minerva (Rothschild) and C. m. wolffhuegeli (Rothschild), Del Ponte (1977) considered C. minerva and C. wolffhuegeli to be valid species. We believe more detailed morphological and molecular studies are needed to resolve this taxonomic issue.…”

“…This is the first record of the genus Delostichus for La Rioja Province and the first record of the species D. talis for northwestern Argentina. The geographical distribution of the species is extended~ 400 km north of the northernmost available record, cited by Lareschi et al (2016) (Las Casuarinas, San Juan Province). The locality of the Material Examined corresponds to the Puna eco-region.…”

“…Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Chubut, Entre Ríos, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Río Negro, Salta, San Luis, San Juan, Santa Cruz, and Santiago del Estero (Lareschi et al 2016). …”