title: Mites (acari) infesting commensal rats in Suez Canal zone, Egypt.
abstract: Mites are arthropods distinguished from ticks by usually being microscopical in size and have a hypostome unarmed with tooth-like anchoring processes. They are group in a number of suborders, each with super-families and families including many genera of medical and economic importance. In this paper, commensal rodents (Rattus norvegicus, R. r. alexandrinus and R. r. frugivorous) were surveyed in the Suez Canal Zone for their acari ectoparasites. Four species of mites were recovered. In a descending order of mite indices, they were Eulaelaps stabularis (4.83 on 6 rats), Laelaps nuttalli (3.11 on 27 rats), Ornithonyssus bacoti (1.66 on 9 rats) and Dermanyssus gallinae (0.66 on 24 rats). The overall mite indices in the three governorates were 3.66 in Suez, 2.82 in Ismailia and zero in Port Said. The medical and economic importance of the mites were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Faculties of Agriculture, Suez Cana University, Egypt.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: el Kady
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shoukry
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ragheb
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: el Said
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Morsy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D008924:Mite Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008925:Mites / Q000145:classification; D051381:Rats; D012376:Rodent Diseases