Hirstionyssus apodemi Zuevsky, 1970

? Liponyssus arcuatus (C.L. Koch, 1839) — Oudemans 1913a: 386; Oudemans 1913b: 68–75, figs 261–280.

Hirstionyssus musculi (Johnston, 1849) — Bregetova 1956: 185, 194, figs 402, 437–441, 476–478 (partim).

Hirstionyssus apodemi Zuevsky 1970: 1343, fig. 2 (nom. nov. pro Dermanyssus arcuatus C.L. Koch, 1839 sensu Oudemans, 1913).

Echinonyssus apodemi — Tenorio 1984: 263.

? Echinonyssus sunci — Tenorio 1984: 278.

Hirstionyssus apodemi — Uchikawa 1974: 261, figs 1–4; Koroleva 1977: 137, figs 4 (3), 6 (5); Nikulina 1987: 233, 234; Senotrusova 1987: 107, fig. 52; Goncharova et al. 1991: 78.

? Hirstionyssus sunci Wang, 1962: 412 .

? Hirstionyssus sinicus Teng & Pan 1962: 278 .

Hirstionyssus sunci — Uchikawa 1975: 89; Mašán & Fend’a 2010: 155, figs 166–171.

Type locality: Entire Europe (Oudemans 1913b).

Type series: Unknown.

Type host: Not stated ( H. apodemi is a replacement name).

Host range: The principal hosts of H. apodemi are mice of the genus Apodemus Kaup, 1829; occasionally, these mites may be found on other hosts, including Microtus gregalis (Pallas, 1779), Sicista betulina (Pallas, 1779), Ellobius talpinus (Pallas, 1770), Sorex spp. and others (Zuevsky 1970).

Distribution: Eastern Europe, Siberia, Russian Far East, Kazakhstan, Iran (Tenorio 1984; Nikulina 1987, 2004; Senotrusova 1987; Goncharova et al. 1991). It has been recorded in different regions of Southern Siberia, from the southwestern part of Western Siberia (Davydova & Nikol’sky 1986) eastward to Transbaikalia (Goncharova et al. 1991).

Notes: Uchikawa (1975) synonymised H. apodemi with H. sunci Wang, 1962, described from China. As Tenorio (1984: 278) noted, this was made “with apparently no type comparison”. Russian authors still prefer to use the name H. apodemi (see Nikulina 2004; Korallo 2009). Whether the two species are the same or not is unclear (but see Mašán & Fend’a 2010). Mašán & Fend’a (2010) list two more European species of Hirstionyssus ( H. oryctolagi Evans & Till, 1966 and H. molinae Fain & Rack, 1990) in the synonymy of H. sunci (= H. apodemi).