Comatacarus americanus Ewing

Reeves, Will K., Durden, Lance A. & Wrenn, William J., 2004, Ectoparasitic chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae, Leeuwenhoekiidae), lice (Phthiraptera), and Hemiptera (Cimicidae and Reduviidae) from South Carolina, U. S. A., Zootaxa 647, pp. 1-20 : 3

Comatacarus americanus Ewing

Aiken Co., Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s Mill Creek grid, May 1986, ex Blarina carolinensis (Bachman) , coll. Whitaker, Hartman, and Hein (Whitaker et al. 1994); Barnwell Co., Savannah River Site, 20 May–15 June 1980, ex B. carolinensis in a pitfall trap; Oconee Co., Coon Branch, 4 March 1993, ex Sorex hoyi Baird , coll. P. Swillings.

Based on our collection records, C. americanus occurs in both the mountains and piedmont of South Carolina. Larvae were attached to the face and ears of their hosts. Comatacarus americanus was the only chigger on B. carolinensis at the Savannah River Site ( Whitaker et al. 1994). Comatacarus americanus is a parasite of rodents and insectivores and was reported from a “western mole” in Oregon and a “cotton mouse” in Alabama ( Brennan & Goff 1977; Ewing 1942). Larvae were taken in Kansas from Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner) and Reithrodontomys megalotis (Baird) ; in Colorado from Neotoma cinerea (Ord) and Neotoma mexicana Baird ( Loomis 1956) ; in California from Spermophilus beecheyi (Richardson) , Microtus californicus (Peale) , and Thomomys bottae (Eydoux and Gervais) ( Brennan & Jones 1954) ; and in Canada from Blarina brevicauda (Say) ( Jameson 1950) .