Faunal analysis of chigger mites (Acari: Prostigmata) on small mammals in Yunnan province, southwest China

Peng, Pei‐Ying; Guo, Xian‐Guo; Ren, Tian-Guang; Song, Wen‐Yu

doi:10.1007/s00436-015-4483-2

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Both L. pallidum and L. scutellare have been found in Japan and South Korea and occur mainly from fall to early spring [ 11 , 35 , 36 ]. In Yunnan of China, L. deliense is distributed at lower latitudes and L. scutellare at higher latitudes [ 37 ]. In South Korea, L. scutellare occurs primarily in the southern part of the country while L. pallidum in found more in northern regions [ 36 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surveillance of potential hosts and vectors of scrub typhus in Taiwan

et al. 2015

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BackgroundScrub typhus is a lethal infectious disease vectored by larval trombiculid mites (i.e. chiggers) infected with Orientia tsutsugamushi (OT) and recent decades have witnessed an emergence of scrub typhus in several countries. Identification of chigger species and their vertebrate hosts is fundamental for the assessment of human risks to scrub typhus under environmental changes, but intensive and extensive survey of chiggers and their hosts is still lacking in Taiwan.MethodsChiggers were collected from shrews and rodents in nine counties of Taiwan and were assayed for OT infections with nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR products were further sequenced to reveal probable OT strains. Rodents were assessed for OT exposure by immunofluorescent antibody assay. Lastly, incidence rate of scrub typhus in each county was associated with loads and prevalence of chigger infestations, seropositivity rate in rodents, and OT positivity rate in chiggers.ResultsRattus losea was the most abundant (48.7 % of 1,285 individuals) and widespread (occurred in nine counties) small mammal species and hosted the majority of chiggers (76.4 % of 128,520 chiggers). Leptotrombidium deliense was the most common (64.9 % of all identified chiggers) and widespread (occurred in seven counties) chigger species but was replaced by Leptotrombidium pallidum or Leptotrombidium scutellare during the cold seasons in two counties (Matsu and Kinmen) where winter temperatures were lower than other study sites. Seropositivity rate for OT exposure in 876 assayed rodents was 43.0 % and OT positivity rate in 347 pools of chiggers was 55.9 %, with 15 OT strains identified in the 107 successfully sequenced samples. Incidence rate of scrub typhus was positively correlated with chigger loads, prevalence of chigger infestations, seropositivity rate but not OT positivity rate in chiggers.ConclusionsOur study reveals R. losea as the primary host for chiggers and there exists a geographical and seasonal variation in chigger species in Taiwan. It also emphasizes the importance of recognition of chigger vectors and their vertebrate hosts for a better prediction of human risks to scrub typhus under rapid environmental changes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surveillance of potential hosts and vectors of scrub typhus in Taiwan

et al. 2015

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“…As mentioned above, two types of landscapes (MUL and CFL) in Yunnan province of southwest China were selected from our previous field investigation between 2001 and 2015[ 32 – 34 ]. In each landscape of MUL and CFL, six counties were selected for the study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes with different biodiversity influence distribution of small mammals and their ectoparasitic chigger mites: A comparative study from southwest China

et al. 2018

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From a previous field investigation in Yunnan, southwest China between 2001 and 2015, we selected two types of landscapes to make a retrospectively comparative study on the distribution of small mammals and their ectoparasitic chigger mites. One landscape is “mountainous uncultivated land (MUL)” with higher biodiversity, which is located in a famous “World Nature Heritage Site”, the Three-Parallel-Rivers Region in the northwest of Yunnan. The other is “cultivated flatland landscape (CFL)” with lower biodiversity, which is located in the south of Yunnan. The landscapes with different biodiversity apparently influenced the distribution of small mammals and their ectoparasitic chigger mites. Much more species of small mammals and mites were found in MUL than in CFL. A total of 3,177 small mammals captured from MUL were identified as 55 species, 30 genera and 10 families in five orders. From these small mammal hosts, 5,882 chigger mites were collected and identified as 127 species, 15 genera and 3 subfamilies in two families. A total of 1,112 small mammals captured from CFL were identified as 19 species, 12 genera and 5 families in three orders. From these hosts, 17,742 chiggers were collected and identified as 86 species, 12 genera and 3 subfamilies in two families. Both the species diversity (S = 55) and community diversity (H = 2.673) of small mammals in MUL were much higher than those in CFL (S = 19; H = 0.926). There were also higher values of β diversity in MUL than in CFL. Different main reservoir rodent hosts of zoonoses (including tsutsugamushi disease) were found in two types of landscapes. Rattus tanezumi (one main reservoir host) was most abundant in CFL, which accounted for 80.22% of all the small mammals. Another two main reservoir hosts, Eothenomys miletus and Apodemus chevrieri were the dominant species in MUL, but they were not as abundant as R. tanezumi in CFL. Different vector species of chigger mites also existed in MUL and CFL. Leptotrombidium deliense (a main and powerful vector of tsutsugamushi disease in China) and Ascoschoengastia indica (a potential vector of tsutsugamushi disease) were the dominant species of chigger mites in CFL (Cr = 25.81% for A. indica; Cr = 23.47% for L. deliense). Leptotrombidium scutellare (also a main vector of tsutsugamushi disease in China) was the dominant chigger species in MUL (Cr = 26.09%). Higher infestation of vector mites on small mammals was found in the simple landscape with lower biodiversity (CFL) than in the complex landscape with higher biodiversity (MUL). The overall prevalence (P), mean abundance (MA) and mean intensity (MI) of chigger mites on small mammals were much higher in CFL than in MUL. The main vector mite species on their main rodent hosts also showed a higher P, MA and MI in CFL than in MUL.

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“…All the collected chiggers from each host were separately preserved in a vial with 70% of ethanol. After the collection of chiggers, every host was identified into species according to its external morphological characteristics and various comprehensive measurement indexes [16][17][18].…”

Section: Collection Of Chigger Mites and Their Hostsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the constituent ratio, Levins' niche breadth was adopted to evaluate the host-specificity [16,21,25].…”

Section: Statistical Analysis On Ecological Nichementioning

confidence: 99%

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Relative Abundance of a Vector of Scrub Typhus, Leptotrombidium sialkotense, in Southern Yunnan Province, China

Guo

Jin

et al. 2020

Korean J Parasitol

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The chigger mite Leptotrombidium sialkotense is one of the 6 main vectors of scrub typhus in China. Before present study, L. sialkotense was found in some parts of Hunan province, China with a narrow geographical distribution. During field investigation 2016-2017, we found L. sialkotense in Jingha, southern Yunnan, China. Of 15 small mammal host species, L. sialkotense were collected from 6 species of the hosts. Rattus brunneusculus was a dominant host of L. sialkotense, from which 98.3% of the mites were collected. The chigger mite showed a relatively high infestation prevalence (PM=11.7%) and mean abundance (MA=0.5) in comparison with the rest 5 host species. These results reveal a certain host specificity of L. sialkotense to a rat R. brunneusculus. The mite L. sialkotense showed an aggregated distribution on the host (P<0.05). A positive correlation observed between L. sialkotense and the body length of hosts. There was a positive interspecific association between L. sialkotense and 2 other dominant vectors, L. deliense and L. scutellare.

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Faunal analysis of chigger mites (Acari: Prostigmata) on small mammals in Yunnan province, southwest China

Cited by 17 publications

References 22 publications

Surveillance of potential hosts and vectors of scrub typhus in Taiwan

Surveillance of potential hosts and vectors of scrub typhus in Taiwan

Landscapes with different biodiversity influence distribution of small mammals and their ectoparasitic chigger mites: A comparative study from southwest China

Relative Abundance of a Vector of Scrub Typhus, Leptotrombidium sialkotense, in Southern Yunnan Province, China

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