Neotrombicula autumnalis (Shaw)

Dillon Co., Dillon, 25 January 1993, ex Felis silvestris Schreber (domestic cat), coll. K.L. Huggins.

A veterinarian removed these chiggers from the face and feet of a domestic cat and submitted the mites for identification to the Cooperative Extension Service. Harlan & Palmer (1974) reported a similar collection from a cat from North Carolina. This chigger infests more than 27 mammal and 8 bird species in Europe (Wharton & Fuller 1952). Larvae from western Colorado and southwestern Nebraska feed on rodents (Kardos, 1954). Crossley & Proctor (1971) reported a single collection from Toxostoma rufum in the piedmont region of Georgia. Neotrombicula autumnalis is the most common chigger pest of humans in Europe (Mullen & OConnor 2002).