New Flea and Tick Records for Mountain Lions in Southwestern Arizona

Abstract

Our understanding of ectoparasite ecology in wild felid populations is limited in free-ranging species and in regions such as Arizona. As part of a larger study, we collected ectoparasites from 4 radio-collared mountain lions (Puma concolor) in Tucson, Arizona (32.189N -110.881E) between January 2006 and December 2007. Ectoparasites were identified as Pulex, a genus of flea not commonly reported on mountain lions. The tick was a nymph of Argas (Alveonasus) cooleyi, a species about which little is known.