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1 November 2015 A Checklist of Chigger Mites (Acari: Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhökiidae) from Taiwan, with Descriptions of Three New Species
Lo-Hsuan Chung, Wen-Jer Wu, Chi-Chien Kuo, Hsi-Chieh Wang
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Abstract

Scrub typhus is a lethal human disease transmitted by larval trombiculid mites (i.e., chiggers) that have been infected with the rickettsia Orientia tsutsugamushi. In total, 21 chigger species are known from Taiwan. We update the checklist of chiggers of Taiwan based on an intensive survey of shrew and rodent hosts in grasslands and agricultural fields in lowland Taiwan, coupled with surveys of forests in one mountainous site and an opportunistic examination of submitted host specimens. Three new species of chiggers, Gahrliepia (Gateria) lieni sp. n., Gahrliepia (Gateria) minuta sp. n., and Gahrliepia (Gateria) yilanensis sp. n., as well as 23 newly recorded chigger species, were discovered. Accordingly, recorded chigger species of Taiwan more than doubled from 21 to 47 species. Two new species and nine newly recorded chigger species were discovered in forests in one mountainous site in northeastern Taiwan, suggesting that many more chigger species may be uncovered, particularly in mountainous Taiwan. Further studies should also investigate O. tsutsugamushi infection in different chigger species to assess its risks to human health.

© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
Lo-Hsuan Chung, Wen-Jer Wu, Chi-Chien Kuo, and Hsi-Chieh Wang "A Checklist of Chigger Mites (Acari: Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhökiidae) from Taiwan, with Descriptions of Three New Species," Journal of Medical Entomology 52(6), 1241-1253, (1 November 2015). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjv139
Received: 22 May 2015; Accepted: 21 August 2015; Published: 1 November 2015
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KEYWORDS
checklist
Gahrliepia
Gateria
taxonomy
trombiculid
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