Androlaelaps rotundus Fonseca (Acari: Laelapidae) associated with akodontine rodents in Paraguay: a morphometric examination of a pleioxenous ectoparasite.

Abstract

A multivariate analysis of morphometric data suggests that the nominally pleioxenous ectoparasite, Androlaelaps rotundus, includes at least three distinct host-associated populations in Paraguay. Where multiple akodontine hosts occur sympatrically, each host species is accompanied by a morphologically distinct mite population. These host-mite associations were consistent across all localities, implying that A. rotundus is a complex of unrecognized species.