Ornithonyssus bacoti

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.” ; Published as part of 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, pp. 1-16 in Insecta Mundi 2016 (478) on page 11, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5170591