The blood sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) of Croatia: review and new data

Authors: STJEPAN KRCMAR, TOMI TRILAR

Abstract: The present faunistic study of blood sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) has resulted in the recording of the 4 species: Hoplopleura acanthopus (Burmeister, 1839); Ho. affinis (Burmeister, 1839); Polyplax serrata (Burmeister, 1839), and Haematopinus apri Goureau, 1866 newly reported for the fauna of Croatia. Thirteen species and 2 subspecies are currently known from Croatia, belonging to 6 families. Linognathidae and Haematopinidae are the best represented families, with four species each, followed by Hoplopleuridae and Polyplacidae with two species each, Pediculidae with two subspecies, and Pthiridae with one species. Blood sucking lice were collected from 18 different host species. Three taxa, one species, and two subspecies were recorded on the Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758. Two species were recorded on Apodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771); A. sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758); Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758; and Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 per host species. On the remaining 13 host species, one Anoplura species was collected. The recorded species were collected from 17 localities covering 17 fields of 10 x 10 km on the UTM grid of Croatia.

Keywords: Phthiraptera, Anoplura, Croatia, species list

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