title: [Description of three new species of Paractenopsyllus genus (Siphonaptera: Leptopsyllinae) from Madagascar].
abstract: The males of three new and rare species of the Malagasy endemic genus Paractenopsyllus Wagner, 1938 are described. Paractenopsyllus beaucournui, P. oconnori and P. raxworthyi have been collected on endemic small mammals and the black rat. As for others species of the genus, biotopes are rain-forests of the central highlands or the northern mountains of Madagascar. Two of the described species were collected at elevations lower than typical for the genus and below the limits of the highland bioclimatic zone. Morphological affinities between these new species and those already described provide taxonomic framework for the genus. An updated identification key is provided for the diagnosis of all the 20 Malagasy species of Leptopsyllinae.
authors.affiliation: Unité d'entomologie médicale, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, BP 1274, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar. duchemin@cermes.ne
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Duchemin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ratovonjato
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007312:Eulipotyphla / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D008270:Madagascar; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009115:Muridae / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D012377:Rodentia; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D013045:Species Specificity