Lentistivalius philippinensis Hastriter & Bush, 2013

Hastriter, Michael W. & Bush, Sarah E., 2014, Description of Medwayella independencia (Siphonaptera, Stivaliidae), a new species of flea from Mindanao Island, the Philippines and their phoretic mites, and miscellaneous flea records from the Malay Archipelago, ZooKeys 408, pp. 107-123 : 109

Lentistivalius philippinensis Hastriter & Bush, 2013

Material examined.

Sumatra, 6 km from Sidikalang, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, "scrub and lalang grass near stream"; Rattus rattus diardii ♀, 8 IV 1973, M. Nadchatram, R. Traub, and D. Roberts, (B-87343, Sub. 231, 1♂) (CMNH).

Remarks.

Hastriter and Bush (2013) described this species from Luzon Island, Philippines, from Crocidura grayi Dobson. A single male was thereafter discovered in the Traub flea collection from the Greater Sunda Island of Sumatra, approximately 1700 km from the type locality. This is the third specimen known for Lentistivalius philippinensis and the female sex remains undescribed. Such a disjunct distribution is indicative of the dearth of ectoparasite collections throughout the Malay Archipelago. A host voucher specimen of " Rattus rattus diardii " is not available to verify the recorded field identification. Wilson and Reeder (2005) included “diardii” as a synonym of Rattus tanezumi Temminck, a species widely introduced throughout insular Southeast Asia, including the Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands and the Molucca Islands ( Flannery 1995). Rattus tanezumi might be considered relevant in the apparent dissemination of Lentistivalius philippinensis to Sumatra or from Sumatra to the Philippines. In addition, although Crocidura grayi is restricted to the island of Luzon, the importance of other species of Crocidura across the region may also account for the broader distribution on islands outside of the Philippines, such as Sumatra. Traub (1972a) noted, “… the remarkable facility of this genus [ Lentistivalius ] to adapt to a broad variety of hosts, in widely separated areas", a statement supported by the various species of Lentistivalius that are found on birds, shrews, and murid rodents. Flea collections throughout the Malay Archipelago are drastically lacking. Future collections and studies of fleas and other ectoparasites are badly needed in Southeast Asia and the insular regions of the Malay Archipelago, especially with the alarmingly rapid destruction of habitat and loss of mammalian host species.