Flea diversity and prevalence on arid-adapted rodents in the Oriental Basin, Mexico

AbstractInventorying biodiversity is basic for conservation and natural resources management because constant loss of natural areas increases the need for fast biodiversity inventories. Desert flea diversity and associations are not well known in Mexican deserts, especially in the Oriental Basin (OB). Rodents were trapped in the Oriental Basin through June 2007, 2009, and 2010, and July 2008, in 10 localities. A total of 144 rodents belonging to 10 species were trapped, of which 133 were parasitized by 350 fleas belonging to 18 species. Peromyscus difficilis had the highest parasite richness with 9 species, followed by P. maniculatus with 8. The most abundant fleas in the OB were Polygenis vazquezi, Plusaetis parus, Meringis altipecten, and Plusaetis mathesoni. Seven species were found representing new records for 3 states