Eutrombicula lipovskyana ( Wolfenbarger, 1952 )

Kalúz, Stanislav, Literák, Ivan & Kolenčík, Stanislav, 2018, The chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae) on wild birds in Honduras, Folia Parasitologica (017) 65, pp. 1-4 : 2-3

Eutrombicula lipovskyana ( Wolfenbarger, 1952)

M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d (p r e v a l e n c e): three larvae, from Passeriformes , Vireonidae : Vireo olivaceus (Linnaeus) (U: 1/12), Parulidae : Seiurus aurocapilla (Linnaeus) (U: 1/10), Geothlypis formosa (Wilson) (L: 1/2). Each parasitised bird carried one larva.

R e m a r k s: This chigger is known to occur in midwestern and southern USA (Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas) and to parasitise amphibians (two species in two genera), turtles (one species), lizards (two families with two species in two genera), snakes (two families with two species in two genera), birds (two orders, Ralliformes with one species and Passeriformes with 20 species in 19 genera; Wolfenbarger 1952, Walters et al. 2011). It has also been recorded from Panama and Cuba ( Daniel and StekoĽnikov 2004). We report E. lipovskyana for the first time from Honduras and also from the three species on which it was found. All the host species breed in North America and winter in Central America and South America. In September, when we examined birds in Honduras, these host species were in their post-breeding migration and beginning to appear in their wintering grounds ( Howell and Webb 1995, Garrigues and Dean 2007). We suppose that migrating birds substantially contribute to the distribution of E. lipovskyana in the territory of its occurrence. Brennan and Yunker (1966) noted this taxon (as form of Eutrombicula alfreddugesi [Oudemans]) from the highlands of Chiriqui in Panama, suggesting the species may naturally occur in Central America. Dietsch (2005) brings the study on chiggers parasitising migrating birds in Chiapas ( Mexico). The author did not specify the species of chiggers, but more than 60 bird species were studied – nearly all of them (including all the above mentioned bird species reported from Honduras) were the hosts of larvae possibly of E. lipovskyana . The importance of birds as hosts of chiggers is also shown in the paper of Philips (2000) where the author presented 28 raptors as hosts of 25 different chigger species inclUding E. lipovskyana . The chigger E. lipovskyana has been known from numerous hosts (various groups of vertebrates) and over a wide geographic range. Among the bird species studied by us V. olivaceus is known as a host of another chigger E. alfreddugesi from the Caribbean region ( Walters et al. 2011). The information stated above indicates that E. lipovskyana is a non-specific parasite; the larvae show a wide ecological and geographical plasticity.

With respect to the relationships between chiggers and their bird hosts, some common aspects arise:

(1) All bird species studied by us have a large geographic distribution ( Howell and Webb 1995, Garrigues and Dean 2007): M. lessonii from southern Mexico to southwestern Panama ( Stiles 2009); A. spadiceus from north-western Mexico to western Ecuador, Bolivia, southeastern Brazil to Trinidad; P. maculipectus from Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras to Nicaragua; H. leucosticta from central Mexico to northeastern Peru and Surinam; R. melanurus from Mexico south to Brazil, eastern Venezuela, Colombia and Trinidad; T. grayi from South Texas, Mexico to northern Colombia; H. vermivorum from eastern United States, Mexico, Central America to Greater Antilles; S. aurocapilla from eastern North America, Florida, Central America, many Caribbean islands to northern Venezuela; C. aurifrons from South United States (NW Texas, SW Oklahoma), Mexico, El Salvador, southwestern Honduras to northcentral Nicaragua; G. formosa from central and eastern United States (often ranging as far north as Wisconsin to Pennsylvania) to the Yucatán Peninsula and from many islands of the Caribbean to North Venezuela; V. olivaceus from the United States, many Caribbean islands, Colombia, Chile, French Guiana to Uruguay; X. guttatus from eastern Colombia through northern Brazil, southern and eastern Venezuela to the Guianas ( French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname).

(2) Some of these birds migrate through Honduras or winter in this area ( Dietsch 2005).