Matheus Bastos

University of São Paulo | USP · Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health (VPS)

The Neotropical genus Quadraseta Brennan has 15 valid species associated with small mammals and birds. Quadraseta pazca (Brennan and Jones, 1964) is the type species chosen by Brennan (1970) to describe the genus Quadraseta. This species was originally described parasitizing murids in Argentina and later recorded parasitizing cricetids in two diffe...

The trombiculid genus Euschoengastia Ewing, 1938 is currently comprised of species from all biotic regions giving the genus a worldwide distribution. In North America, there are 60 described species. One species, Euschoengastia chisosensis Wrenn, Baccus, and Loomis, was collected parasitizing cricetid rodents in Texas, USA. In the present study, a...

Chiggers are ectoparasites of vertebrates and can cause trombiculiasis or transmit pathogens to their hosts. In the Neotropical region, the genus Quadraseta Brennan includes 16 valid species. Quadraseta antillarum (Brennan) and Quadraseta brennani (Goff & Whitaker), are morphologically identical and we propose the synonymy of Q. brennani with Q. an...

The genus Quadraseta Brennan, 1970 (Trombiculidae) is distributed in South American, with a few records from Central America. The larvae (chiggers) are primarily mammal parasites, with one species from birds. Examination of unidentified material at US National Insect and Mite Collection revealed five species to this genus: Q. brasiliensis Goff & Ge...

Chiggers are ectoparasites and can cause severe dermatitis in their hosts, known as trombiculiasis. Besides that, these mites can be vectors of bacteria of the genus Orientia, in various regions of the world. The genera Eutrombicula Ewing, 1938 is currently represented by more than 80 species worldwide. Species of this genus are recorded parasitizi...

Hannemania has 27 described species parasitizing amphibians in the Americas. To date, five species have been recorded from Brazil. Here, we describe a new species for the country, collected parasitising the South American white-lipped grass frog, Miranda’s white-lipped frog, basin white-lipped, Bahia dwarf frog and granular toad all from Ceará stat...

Trinidad and Tobago, a neotropical country, has 38 reported chigger species. Of these species, 18 were parasitizing bats. Here, we describe a new genus and species parasitizing a ghost-faced bat in this country.

PurposeEuschoengastia Ewing is a chigger genus in need of revision as it historically has combined species solely on the presence of expanded prodorsal trichobothria. The objective of the present study is to describe a new genus to reallocate two North American Euschoengastia species, to start an organization into this genus.Methods In this study,...

The chigger species Blankaartia sinnamaryi (Floch & Fauran) has been collected mainly from birds with a few records from reptiles and mammals. In Brazil, this species has been found on birds in the Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states. Here, we report the first record of B. sinnamaryi parasitizing the striped owl, Pseudoscops clamator (Vieillot),...

The Neotropical chigger genus Boshkerria includes, B. tuberculata and B. punctata, both species parasites mammals in Central and South America. Here, we redescribe B. punctata based on a lectotype and paralectotype designated herein and describe a new species, Boshkerria erwini n. sp., from the green acouchi Myoprocta pratti in Peru. Also, we provi...

The genus Serratacarus Goff and Whitaker 1984, currently includes only two species, Serratacarus dietzi Goff and Whitaker, 1994 and Serratacarus lasiurus Goff and Whitaker, 1994, which were recorded on cricetid rodents from natural reserve areas of Brazil. Here, we provide a review of the morphological characters for both species and synonymize of...

PurposeThe African continent has 452 chiggers (Trombidiformes: Trombiculidae) in 61 genera. One of these, Elianella Vercammen-Grandjean, 1956, has only two species known for Africa. The objective of the present study is to describe a new species for Equatorial Guinea, with the aim of increasing knowledge so scarce for Africa.Methods In this study,...

South American chiggers have historically been poorly studied, and this has continued into present times. Of the 33 genera in the family Leeuwenhoekiidae Womersley, only Odontacarus Ewing and Sasacarus Brennan & Jones have been reported in Peru. Here, we describe a new genus, Peruacarus n. gen., and a new species, Peruacarus anthurium n. sp., paras...

Background: The Caribbean country Jamaica has only seven reported chigger species. Of these, one was recorded from bats. Methods: For the specimens examined in this study were provided drawings, measurements, and microscopy images on a Microscope Zeiss. This material is deposited in the Smithsonian National Chigger Collection. Results: In the...

Neoschoengastia is a genus of chiggers that mainly parasitizes birds and is comprised of more than 70 described species widely distributed throughout the world. Here we improve the description of the species Neoschoengastia esorhina based on the type series, also providing drawings of these types. This species is known only from the type series, wh...

There are many records of the family Sarcoptidae in bats. The species Notoedres (Notoedres) yunkeri has been reported only once, parasitizing a molossid bat in Panama. In the present study, we expand the occurrence of the species to Brazil.

Macronyssid mites are parasites of reptiles, birds, and mammals. A checklist of macronyssid species of Brazil is provided, containing 13 genera and 26 species collected from 99 host species.

Chigger mites are ectoparasites of terrestrial tetrapods and can cause dermatitis in the host, known as trombiculiasis. In Brazil, there are 73 species of chiggers; however, cats never have recorded as a host in this country. Here, we report the first record of chiggers parasitizing a domestic cat in Brazil; and a new locality for Eutrombicula tina...

The Piauí State, Brazil, has never had its chigger fauna recorded. In this study, we examined chiggers collected on marsupials, rodents, and lizards from the conservation unit Parque Nacional da Serra das Confusões (PNSC). Herein we describe four new species, Paraguacarus klompeni n. sp., Neoschoengastia ochoai n. sp., Quadraseta welbourni n. sp.,...

The genus Lepronyssoides Fonseca comprises four Neotropical species associated mainly with rodents. One of these species, L. pereirai (Fonseca), has been recorded parasitizing rodents and marsupials in several states of the north, northeast, and central-west regions of Brazil. This study is based on samples housed at the Acari Collection of the But...

Brennanacarus annereauxi (Brennan and Yunker, 1969) was described from Venezuela parasitizing the greater spear-nosed bat. The monotypic genus Brennanacarus Goff, Yunker and Wheeler, 1987 is a replacement name for Nasicola Brennan and Yunker, 1969, which was preoccupied by Nasicola Yamaguti, 1968. Here, we redescribe the genus Brennanacarus and the...

The genus Otodectes Canestrini 1894, comprises an unique species, Otodectes cynotis (Hering, 1838), that is responsible for the 'ear mange' in terrestrial carnivores worldwide. Here we report its occurrence in four Brazilian host species from the southeastern region, based on records from Carnivora in the Acari Collection of the Butantan Institute,...