Laelaps C.L. Koch, 1836

Vinarski, Maxim V. & Korallo-Vinarskaya, Natalia P., 2016, An annotated catalogue of the gamasid mites associated with small mammals in Asiatic Russia. The family Laelapidae s. str. (Acari: Mesostigmata: Gamasina), Zootaxa 4111 (3), pp. 223-245 : 225-226

Genus Laelaps C.L. Koch, 1836

Cryptostoma Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , non Cryptostoma Blainville, 1818 (partim) Iphis C.L. Koch, 1835 , non Meigen, 1810 nec Leach, 1817 (partim) Leclaps Kolenati, 1858 (lapsus calami) Leelaps Kolenati, 1859 (lapsus calami) Tetragonyssus Ewing, 1923 (partim)

Echinolaelaps Ewing, 1929

Cricetilaelaps Lange, 1955

Microtilaelaps Lange, 1955

Myolaelaps Lange, 1955

Rattilaelaps Lange, 1955

Schistolaelaps Fonseca, 1960 .

Type species. Laelaps agilis C.L. Koch, 1836 .

Remarks. The first scientific description of a species of the genus Laelaps was made by Sven Ingemar Ljungh (1757–1828), the Swedish naturalist who published a Latin account of the black morph of the water vole, Arvicola terrestris (L., 1758), with a short description of its ectoparasites, Pediculus murinus Fabricius, 1780 and Acarus muris Ljungh, 1799 . C.L. Koch (1836), included two species into his genus Laelaps : L. agilis Koch, 1836 and L.

hilaris Koch, 1836 ( Figs 1, 2 ). Oudemans (1927) and some subsequent authors ( Baker & Wharton, 1952) believed L. agilis to be a junior synonym of Acarus muris and consequently, cited the latter as the type species of the genus. Most acarologists, however, reject this synonymy and consider the two species as different (Bregetova, 1956; Mašán & Fenďa, 2010). Senotrusova (1987) mentioned 15 species of the genus from the former USSR area, whereas Mašán & Fenďa (2010) report 12 species of Laelaps in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Illustrations of Laelaps spp. after C. L. Koch (1836). 1. Laelaps agilis; 2. L. hilaris. These may be the oldest scientific illustrations of representatives of the genus Laelaps.