Mites of the genus Schizocarpus (Acariformes: Chirodiscidae) parasitizing the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber (Rodentia: Castoridae) in the Voronezh National Reserve

Abstract

Fauna of fur mites of the genus Schizocarpus Trouessart, 1896 (Acariformes: Chirodiscidae) associated with the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber L. (Rodentia: Castoridae) in the beaver farm of Voronezh National Reserve (Russia) was examined. Totally, 16 Schizocarpus spp. were recorded. Among them 11 species were previously described by Dubinina (1964) from the same locality and four following recovered species were formerly described by Fain and Lukoschus (1985) from Castor fiber in Western Europe: S. pygidialis, S. radiatus, S. similis, and S. subhexapilis. Available specimens of one more species close to S.\n latus (Dubinina, 1964) are determined as S. sp. and probably belong to a new species but are in the poor condition. Seven species described by Dubinina (1964) are redescribed: S. brevicauda, S. grandis, S. parvus, S. subparvus, S. minor, S. latus, and S. subminor. Two previously described species, S. dubininae Fain et Lukoschus, 1985 syn. nov. and S. ventricosus Fain et Lukoschus, 1985 syn. nov., are synonymized with S. grandis and S. latus, respectively. The record of S. mingaudi Trouessart, 1896 on Castor fiber from the Voronezh National Reserve by Dubinina (1964) is considered as the host shift from the American beaver Castor canadensis Kuhl happened in captivity at the Voronezh beaver farm.