Stenoponia

Hastriter, Michael W., Haas, Glenn E. & Wilson, Nixon, 2006, New distribution records for Stenoponia americana (Baker) and Stenoponia ponera Traub and Johnson (Siphonaptera: Ctenophthalmidae) with a review of records from the Southwestern United States, Zootaxa 1253, pp. 51-59 : 57

Ecology of Stenoponia in the Southwestern United States

The need for more collecting in the Southwest is evident from the widely scattered records ( Fig. 1 ). From the limited and often incomplete collection data available, adults of both species are collected primarily from species of Peromyscus during the cooler months from September through April in a wide range of habitats from grasslands and shrubs to Piñon­ Juniper woodlands, Ponderosa pine forests and mixed Conifer­Aspen forests. There are no records from the low deserts such as the Sonora and Mojave where summers are probably too hot for development of immature stages, nor are there records from the high montane Spruce­Fir forests and Alpine tundra where extreme cold could be a limiting factor, or collecting efforts have been insufficient.

Data for nests are unavailable except for descriptions of nests and sites of P. maniculatus and P. t r u e i on Mesa Verde ( Douglas 1969). Large fleas with broad host ranges are likely to have a lower fecundity than small fleas, as the growth and development of the immature stages in the nests are prolonged. Larvae of species of Stenoponia are likely the longest lived stadium extending from Spring to Fall. Some might have been present in nests collected by Douglas (1969), but they were not preserved. Presumably the nest microclimate is one with moderate relative humidity and temperature based on data taken by Douglas (1969) on Mesa Verde. Finding and collecting nests where adult fleas were found on mice can be impractical as in the rock slide on Barfoot Peak, Chiricahua Mountains. At most, it can be concluded that the subterranean nests found in rockslides would have a more stable moderate microclimate than recorded on the surface of Mesa Verde. Regarding the sympatry of the two species of Stenoponia on Mesa Verde ( Fig. 1 ) and therefore presumably in other parts of New Mexico as well; hypothetically the two species were allopatric during the Pleistocene. After that epoch ended, S. ponera extended its range north from Mexico into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, while S. americana radiated west into uplands of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. We contend that these extensions of range are continuing.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map illustrating the distribution of Stenoponia americana and Stenoponia ponera in the southwestern United States (* designates type locality of S. ponera).