Additional description of a new species ofTunga(Siphonaptera) from Ecuador

Abstract

Summary:A new species of chigoe flea belonging to the genus Tunga Jarocki, 1 838 (Siphonaptera, Pulicidae, Tunginae), Tunga trimamillata, was recently described by Pampiglione et al. (2002). A better description and more details of the epidemiology of the flea are now presented. It is a species found in goats, pigs and cattle in Santa Isabel in Andean Ecuador. This new species differs from its most similar congener, Tunga penetrans (L. 1758), by several features, the most important of which are a) the presence on the anterior extremity of the gravid female of three rounded humps surrounding the head and thorax (which, however, are not visible if viewed in profile), b) slightly larger dimensions and c) the length of the first segment of the maxillary palpi which is longer than each of the other three.

Molecular biological investigations of Brazilian Tunga sp. isolates from man, dogs, cats, pigs and rats

“…isolates-the correct species names will be given, when morphological data are also available-by sequencing a hypervariable section of 16S rDNA of 24 isolates all captured in the wild in Brazil, as well as of three isolates of the recently described T. trimamillata (Trentini et al 2001;Pampiglione et al 2002Pampiglione et al , 2003. This region was previously described as AT-rich within holometabolous insects (Whitfield and Cameron 1998).…”

“…Usually the flea infests the area of the toes, heels and soles, but can also be found on nearly every part of the body . Of the ten current known species of the genus Tunga, only two are supposed to be parasites of man (Fioravanti et al 2003). The host spectrum of the other eight species is supposed to be restricted to a few genera of wild mammals (e.g.…”

Molecular characterization ofTunga trimamillataandT. penetrans(Insecta, Siphonaptera, Tungidae): taxonomy and genetic variability

“…Gravid females were extracted from single hosts, while freeliving males and females were taken at ground level, near to domestic animals. Specimens were fixed in absolute ethanol and morphologically determined as described in Pampiglione et al (2003Pampiglione et al ( , 2004. All pertinent information on samples are given in Table I.…”

Anatomy ofTunga trimamillataPampiglioneet al., 2002 (Insecta, Siphonaptera, Tungidae) and developmental phases of the gravid female

“…T unga trimamillata is a sand flea recently discovered in some Andean regions of Ecuador, parasitic of many species of mammals (cow, swine, goat, sheep) (Pampiglione et al, 2002; humans included . Therefore, this sand flea is the tenth species of the genus Tunga (Insecta, Siphonaptera, Tungidae) described up to now and the 2 nd observed in man and domestic animals, with evident importance, consequently, in human and veteri- nary medicine.…”