Polyplax serrata (Burmeister) Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister)

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 : 35

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.273680
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1BA23B6E-F96B-495C-B0C5-0AC99413D0C3
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6243885
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E5278780-FFEE-FFCD-FF3B-5BEBFAE4FED2
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Polyplax serrata (Burmeister) Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister)
status

Treatment

Polyplax serrata (Burmeister) —house mouse louse

Ex Mus musculus (house mouse): 1 N, TN, Blount Co., Elkmont, 6 Jul. 1937, R.D.V.

The house mouse louse has a cosmopolitan distribution as an ectoparasite of M. musculus . Polyplax serrata is a mechanical vector for the bacterium, Eperythrozoon coccoides ( Berkenkamp & Wescott 1988) . Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) —spined rat louse

Ex Rattus norvegicus ( Norway rat): 3 F, TN, Sevier Co., Little River Rd., 0.8 miles West of Elkmont turnoff, 27 Dec. 2003, K. Langdon, L 3285.

The spined rat louse parasitizes domestic rats ( Rattus spp.) throughout the world ( Durden & Musser 1994) but this is the first record of it from the Park. This louse is vector of Rickettsia typhi and Haemobartonella muris (Durden 2002, Roberts & Janovy 2000) and might be a vector of “ Bartonella rattimassiliensis ” to rats ( Reeves et al 2006 a).

Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) —spined rat louse

Ex Rattus norvegicus ( Norway rat): 3 F, TN, Sevier Co., Little River Rd., 0.8 miles West of Elkmont turnoff, 27 Dec. 2003, K. Langdon, L 3285.

References

Berkenkamp, S. D. & Wescott, R. B. (1988) Arthropod transmission of Eperythrozoon coccoides in mice. Laboratory Animal Science, 38, 398 - 401.

Durden, L. A. & Musser, G. G. 1994. The sucking lice (Insecta, Anoplura) of the world: a taxonomic checklist with records of mammalian hosts and geographical distributions. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 218, 1 - 90.

Reeves, W. K., Szumlas, D. E., Moriarty, J. R., Loftis, A. D., Abbassy, M. M., Helmy, I. M. & Dasch, G. A. (2006 a) Louseborne bacterial pathogens in lice (Phthiraptera) of rodents and cattle from Egypt. Journal of Parasitology, 92, 313 - 318.

Roberts, L. S. & Janovy, J. Jr. (2000) Gerald D. Schmidt and Larry S. Roberts Foundations of Parasitology, 6 th ed. McGraw Hill, Boston. 670 pp.