Dampfia grahami grahami (Waterston, 1915)

Hastriter, Michael W., 2016, Description of two new species of bat fleas of the genus Araeopsylla (Siphonaptera) from Kenya and Madagascar with notes on miscellaneous bat fleas, ZooKeys 572, pp. 7-21 : 14

Taxon classification Animalia Siphonaptera Ischnopsyllidae

Dampfia grahami grahami (Waterston, 1915)

Ischnopsyllus grahami Waterston, 1915: 115; Bedford 1932: 462.

Dampfia grahami grahami Smit 1954: 148-149; Smit 1955: 215-216; Hopkins and Rothschild 1956: 312; Marcus 1961: 184-187; Beaucournu 2004: 205.

Remarks.

A total of 15 specimens (8♂, 7♀) was collected from four specimens of the Malagasy endemic Neoromicia matroka (Thomas & Schwann, 1905). This flea is not commonly collected and the only known existing records include the holotype ♂ from Eptesicus capensis = Neoromicia capensis (A. Smith, 1829) from Cape Town, South Africa, 3♀ specimens from Natal, and 2♀ from Orange Free State, South Africa (bat host species undetermined). Neoromicia capensis is widely spread across sub-Saharan Africa. Although not found in Madagascar, Goodman et al. (2012) considered Neoromicia capensis to be the closest ally and sister group to Neoromicia matroka . The current specimens represent a new country and host record and substantially increase the known number of specimens available for study. The hosts for Dampfia are thus far restricted to the family Vespertilionidae .

Material examined

(BYUC). Madagascar, Toamasina Province: Andasibe, Ankazinina (18°56'38"S, 48°24'46"E), 970 m, Eptesicus matroka (Thomas & Schwann, 1905) (RHF-58), 18 IX 2004, FHR, 1♀.