Walchia (Walchia) morobensis Gunther, 1939

Stekolnikov, Alexandr A., 2021, A checklist of chigger mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) of Southeast Asia, Zootaxa 4913 (1), pp. 1-163 : 68-69

Walchia (Walchia) morobensis Gunther, 1939

Walchia morobensis Gunther, 1939: 94 , figs. 32, 39; Womersley & Heaslip 1943: 135, pl. XII (2); Gunther 1952: 45; Wharton & Fuller 1952: 92; Radford 1954: 270.

Gahrliepia (Walchia) morobensis: Womersley 1952: 285 , pl. 76 (A–C); Audy 1957: 280; Womersley & Audy 1957: 287; Nadchatram 1970a: 6, figs. 2-9; Goff 1979: 334.

Gahrliepia morobensis: Domrow & Lester 1985: 61 , fig. 217.

Type deposition. CIH .

Type data. Ex Rattus exulans (syn. Rattus browni ) and Rattus leucopus (syn. Rattus ringens ), New Guinea ( Papua New Guinea, Morobe Province), Bulolo.

Hosts. RODENTIA : Bandicota bengalensis , Hydromys chrysogaster , Leptomys elegans , Melomys cervinipes , Paraleptomys wilhelmina , Paramelomys levipes , P. moncktoni , P. platyops , Pogonomelomys sp., Rattus exulans , R. fuscipes , R. leucopus , R. niobe , R. nitidus , R. rattus , R. sordidus , R. tanezumi , Uromys caudimaculatus ; PERAMELEMORPHIA: Isoodon macrourus .

Distribution. Australia, Burma, Papua New Guinea.

Remarks. The description of the material from Burma ( Womersley 1952) is different from the description of the type series provided by Womersley & Heaslip (1943); thus, the record of W. morobensis in Burma (and Southeast Asia in general) could be a result of misidentification ( Nadchatram 1970a).