A preliminary report of the sucking lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Anoplura) of some small mammals of Turkey with four new records

Abstract

A preliminary study was performed to detect the sucking lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera: Anoplura) on small mammals in different localities of Turkey, between the years of 2017-2018. Six specimens of sucking lice were collected from six different small mammalian species belonging to five different genera. The lice were identified as Polyplax borealis Ferris, Polyplax reclinata (Nitzsch), Polyplax serrata (Burmeister), Hoplopleura acanthopus (Burmeister) and Hoplopleura affinis (Burmeister). Polyplax borealis, P. reclinata, H. acanthopus and H. affinis are here reported from Turkey for the first time. With the present study, Microtus arvalis for P. borealis, Crocidura suaveolens for P. reclinata, Apodemus uralensis for P. serrata, Nannospalax leucodon and Apodemus witherbyi for H. affinis are reported as new-host associations. In addition, H. acanthopus was reported from Chionomys nivalis in Turkey, for the first time.