Hoplopleura sciuricola Ferris

Reeves, Will K., Durden, Lance A., Ritzi, Christopher M., Beckham, Katy R., Super, Paul E & Oconnor, Barry M., 2007, Ectoparasites and other ectosymbiotic arthropods of vertebrates in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA, Zootaxa 1392, pp. 31-68 : 33-34

Hoplopleura sciuricola Ferris

Ex Sciurus carolinensis (gray squirrel): 1F, NC, Swain Co., Cherokee, Sep. 2000, K. Walters, L­3008; 1F, 1M, TN, Sevier Co., Sugarlands on US 441, 19 Dec. 2005, W. K. Reeves, L­3329.

Ex Tamiasciurus hudsonicus (red squirrel): GSMNP, 20 Sep. 1936, E. V. Komarek ( Durden et al. 1997a).

This tree squirrel­associated sucking louse is widely distributed in North, Central, and South America ( Durden & Musser 1994). Durden et al. (1997a) reported H. sciuricola from Tennessee and the GSMNP. This louse has been implicated in the transmission of Rickettsia prowazekii , the agent of epidemic typhus ( Bozeman et al., 1981). In addition an undescribed genotype of Bartonella was detected in this louse (Durden et al. 2004).