Contribution to the knowledge of trombiculid mites (Acari, Trombiculidae) and their hosts in Türkiye, with a comprehensive species checklist

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Institute of Science, Department of Biology, Erzincan, Türkiye

2 Artvin Çoruh University, Artvin Vocational School, Department of Forestry, Artvin, Türkiye

3 Biology Department, Sciences and Arts Faculty, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Türkiye

Abstract
Knowledge of host associations in trombiculid mites recorded from Türkiye remains incomplete, and the host range of several species is still insufficiently known. To address this gap, the present study investigates four trombiculid species, Hirsutiella llogorensis (Daniel, 1960), Leptotrombidium europaeum (Daniel & Brelih, 1959), Neotrombicula sympatrica Stekolnikov, 2001, and N. vulgaris (Schluger, 1955), collected as ectoparasitic larvae from various rodent hosts. To minimize taxonomic uncertainty, Apodemus hosts (except one species) were confirmed molecularly using the mitochondrial cytb gene region. The principal finding of the study is the documentation of new host records for these species, thereby expanding their known host range. In addition, distributional data, brief morphological notes, comparisons with previous records from Türkiye, aberrations observed in N. sympatrica, and an updated checklist of trombiculid species recorded from Türkiye are provided. These findings contribute to a better understanding of host associations of trombiculid mites in Türkiye and provide a basis for future faunistic and ecological studies.

Keywords


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