Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst)

Howell, Lindsey, Jelden, Katelyn, Rácz, Elizabeth, Gardner, Scott L. & Gettinger, Donald, 2016, Arthropods infesting small mammals (Insectivora and Rodentia) near Cedar Point Biological Station in southwestern Nebraska, Insecta Mundi 2016 (478), pp. 1-16 : 11

Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst)

Type host: unknown.

Deposition, host records, and locality: HWML 101659 , M. ochrogaster /Station Grounds 2012 ; HWML 101665 and 101666, M. ochrogaster /Station Grounds 2012 ; HWML 101668 , M. ochrogaster / Station Grounds 2012 ; HWML 101673 , Pm. maniculatus /Station Grounds 2012 ; HWML 91988 , Pm. leucopus /Grama Grass 2012 ; HWML 101675 , C. hispidus /Grama Grass 2012 ; HWML 101801 , Pm. maniculatus /Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 101809 , Z. hudsonius /Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 101815 , M. ochrogaster /Station Grounds 2013 ; HWML 101818 , R. megalotis /Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 101820 and 101821, R. megalotis /Breen’s Flyway 2013 .

Remarks: Ornithonyssus bacoti is primarily an ectoparasite of introduced rats ( Rattus ), and their nests ( Radovsky 2010). It is unclear about whether this is truly an ectoparasitic mite that is capable of infesting a wide range of native small mammals, or a complex of morphologically similar species with host specific habits. However, the present belief is that O. bacoti commonly abandons its primary host to infest man and his domestic and/or laboratory animals ( Cole et al. 2005). It is a blood-feeder and its bite can cause skin dermatitis, with the potential for transmission of zoonoses to man and his domestic animals ( Easterbrook et al. 2008). For this reason, it is important to note its strong association with domestic Rattus . In discussing the broad host distribution of O. bacoti, Radovsky (2010) notes the probability that it has spread “from post-Columbian human transport of host animals.”