Ricardo Paredes-León

A New Species of the Genus Hirstiella (Acari: Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae) Parasitic on Phyllodactylus bordai (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) in Mexico

ABSTRACT Hirstiella jimenezi new species is described from specimens found on the gecko Phyllodactylus bordai Taylor in the southern part of Mexico and also recorded from a single specimen of P. tuberculosus magnus Taylor. The female, male, deutonymph, and larva are described and illustrated. This is the first finding of Pterygosomatid mites on hosts of this genus.

Molecular identification and description of the female of Nothoaspis reddelli (Ixodida: Argasidae) from a cave in southeastern Mexico.

Abstract: Nothoaspis reddelli Keirans and Clifford, 1975, was described from 3 males collected in Grutas de Xtacumbilxunaán, Campeche, Mexico, although females have remained undescribed for 37 yr. Recently adult females of this species were collected from Cueva de Villa Luz ( =  Cueva de las Sardinas, Cueva del Azufre), in Tapijulapa, Tabasco, Mexico. Here we present a morphological description of the female stage, together with 16S rDNA sequences that confirm the conspecificity of our female, male, and nymphal specimens. The female integument of the anterior portion of the dorsal surface is smooth (nothoaspis), appearing to consist of 3 large “subunits,” 1 anterior and 2 posterior, each with a small sublateral “subunit” on either side. The remaining dorsal covered integument is a cell-like configuration. The hood is large and bluntly rounded, and visible dorsally. The spiracular plate is oval. It possesses 1 pair of posthypostomal setae. The palpal trochanter has 1 pair of setae and a 5/5 hypostome decreasing to 4/4 at the apex. There is a single central pore at the base of the hypostome.

Presence of intradermal chigger mite Hannemania hylae (Ewing, 1925) (Acari: Leeuwenhoekiidae) in the troglophile frog Eleutherodactylus longipes (Anura: Brachycephalidae) at Los Riscos Cave, Querétaro, Mexico

ABSTRACT For the first time, we report the presence of Hannemania hylae (Ewing) parasitizing the long-footed robber frog Eleutherodactylus longipes (Baird) in a cave environment in Queretaro State, Mexico. A morphological comparison was performed between H. hylae and its closest species Hannemania bufonis Loomis and Welbourn and Hannemania monticola Welbourn and Loomis. The main characters to separate these species are the size of ocular plate, the length of some scutal setae, and the shape and length of some tarsal setae of the legs I and II. We inspected 47 frogs, the prevalence of infestation was 23.4%, mean abundance was 1.8 mites per host, mean intensity 7.9 mites per infested host, and the range intensity was 1–30 mites. Larvae of H. hylae were only collected during the dry season. A brief discussion is provided about the period of larval stage on the host and seasonality is compared with similar studies.