Great Basin Naturalist Volume 37 | Number 2 Article 2 6-30-1977 The ubfs amily Anomiopsyllinae (Hystrichopsyllidae: Siphonaptera). I. A revision of the genus Anomiopsyllus Baker A. M. Barnes CDC Laboratory, Fort Collins, Colorado V. J. Tipton Brigham Young University J. A. Wildie Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Barnes, A. M.; Tipton, V. J.; and Wildie, J. A. (1977) "The ubfas mily Anomiopsyllinae (Hystrichopsyllidae: Siphonaptera). I. A revision of the genus Anomiopsyllus Baker," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 37 : No. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol37/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. THE SUBFAMILY ANOMIOPSYLLINAE (HYSTRICHOPSYLLIDAE: SIPHONAPTERA). I. A REVISION OF THE GENUS ANOMIOPSYLLUS BAKER^^ ' V. ' and A. Wildie' A. M. Barnes, J. Tipton, J. Abstract.— In this taxonomic revision of the Nearctic flea genus AnomiopsyUus Baker morphological charac- ters, phylogeny, affinities with other genera in the subfamily Anomiopsyllinae, evolutionary adaptations, geogra- phic distribution, ecological parameters, and host preferences are discussed. Characters primarily associated with the male genitalia, in particular the number and placement of spiniforms on the movable process (finger) of the clasper, are used for species discrimination. A key to the males of the 15 species and subspecies is provided, in- cluding illustrations of both males and females. The Nearctic genus AnomiopsyUus Baker characters fotmd in females. Hopkins and is a group of small, eyeless fleas associated Rothschild (1962) reviewed the seven known primarily with wood rats of the genus Neo- species and presented keys classifying all torna and usually found in their nests. These males and some females (three species and fleas are characterized by the extreme re- one subspecies). duction in the number of setae and spiny While the genus has been treated ade- structures common to most Siphonaptera, quately so far as its placement among the and by the reduction and displacement of higher taxa is concerned, very little is certain skeletal structures which presumably known of the distribution, geographical var- strengthen the thorax for jumping. These iation, biology, or ecology of any of the anatomical modifications are carried further species. No taxonomic evaluation using all in the genus AnomiopsyUus than in any oth- available specimens has been made for any er flea genus and reflect a high degree of of the species, nor have the intrageneric adaptation to the nest environment. relationships been analyzed. The primary The genus was proposed by Baker (1904) purpose of this paper is to provide a tax- to include Typhlopsylla nudatus Baker, onomic and systematic evaluation of the 1898. The subfamily Anomiopsyllinae was genus and the member species on the basis established by Baker (1905) to include Ano- of morphological, geographical, and ecolog- miopsyUus, which was then thought to be ical data available from slide-mounted spec- phylogenetically isolated and without near imens. Distribution, host-parasite relation- relatives. Since Baker's description of nu- ships, and phylogenetic relationships are datus, 11 additional AnomiopsyUus species also discussed. have been described, of which caUfornicus Baker has been synonomized (Jordan and Acknowledgments Rothschild 1915) and congruens Stewart has been reduced to a subspecific rank (Hopkins Gratitude and deep appreciation are due 1952). Traub and Tipton (1951) gave an ac- Dr. Deane P. Furman, under whose direc- count of the relationships of the genera tion the original Ph.D. studies of the senior within the subfamily Anomiopsyllinae, using author were conducted, and to Dr. E. Gor- This paper is based on part of an original dissertation completed by the senior £ the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963. It has been modified and updated to include all known species of AnomiopsyUus. •This work was supported in part by grant number 2 ROl AI 11292-04 from the National Institutes of Health. 'CDC Laboratory, Box 2087, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522. 'Department of Zoology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602. 138 June 1977 Barnes et al.: Anomiopsyllus Fleas 139 ton Linsley and Dr. Frank E. Pitelka for western United States and Mexico where their advice and criticism. the average rainfall does not exceed 76 cm. Special thanks are expressed to Dr. Frank The temperatures in these areas undergo M. Prince and Dr. Harold E. Stark (who great daily fluctuations and are generally were formerly with the U.S. Public Health quite high. Nest fleas are somewhat pro- Service) as well as to Mr. John R. Walker tected from ambient fluctuations because and Mr. Keith F. Murray of the State of the temperature and humidity in the nest California Department of Public Health for remain at a fairly constant level. Under their kindness and cooperation in making these circumstances a nest environment may the studies possible. provide some selective advantages over a Appreciation is also expressed to the fol- host environment inasmuch as a host may lowing persons for providing advice, infor- be away from the nest for long periods of mation, or material loaned from personal or time foraging for food and, thus, the fleas institutional collections: Dr. D. Elden Beck, on the host would be exposed to environ- Dr. Cluff E. Hopla, Dr. G. F. Augustson, mental fluctuations. Mr. F. G. A. M. Smit, Dr. John Garth, Dr. William L. Jellison, Dr. Luis Vargas, Dr. Distribution of the Genus Alfredo Barrera, Dr. Robert Traub, and Dr. G. P. Holland. Anomiopsyllus is exclusively Nearctic, and species have been collected in a geo- graphical area bounded by Banff, Alberta, Host-Parasite Relationships Canada, on the north (A. montanus Collins) Species of Anomiopsyllus are most fre- and the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, on the quently associated with wood rats of the south (A. oaxacae Barnes). Anomiopsyllus is genus Neotoma; however, they have been restricted in the United States between the collected occasionally from many ground- coastal range of California on the west (A. dwelling rodents, including species of Per- falsicalifornicus Fox) and the 101st meridian omyscus, Dipodomys, and Spermophilus. on the east (A. nudatus hiernalis Eads and There are currently three species of Ano- Menzies). No species have been collected miopsyllus that have not yet been associ- east of the Mississippi River, even though ated with Neotoma: A. oaxacae Barnes, in species of Neotoma do occur in the eastern which the single specimen was taken from United States. Baiomys musculus; A. traubi Barrera, which is known only from a "rodent's nest"; and Generic Relationships A. martini Holland, which was described from Sciurus aberti, a squirrel. Eopsylla Argyropulo is the only genus in The rodent genus Neotoma Say and Ord the subfamily which occurs outside the is widely distributed in North America. The Nearctic realm. Eopsylla was included in species are normally restricted to a given the tribe Anomiopsyllini by Hopkins and type of habitat varying from low, dry Rothschild (1962) because it is more closely deserts or humid jungles to rocky slopes related to the North American genus Callis- above the timberline (Hall and Kelson topsyllus Jordan and Rothschild than it is to 1959). Geographical distribution of this other Asian genera. Careful collecting in genus ranges from Honduras and Nicaragua northwestern North America may reveal the in Central America to British Columbia in presence of taxa which will further sub- Canada and from California east to New stantiate this relationship. York and Florida in the United States. Genera of the Anomiopsyllinae which are There are 22 known species of Neotoma exclusively North American include: Ano- comprising 114 taxa on the species and sub- miopsyllus, Callistopsyllus, Megarthroglossus species level. Most flea species of the genus Jordan and Rothschild, Stenistomera Anomiopsyllus are associated with wood Rothschild, and Conorhinopsylla Stewart. rats, and most occur in the arid south- Callistopsyllus has the most northern distri- 140 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 37, No. 2 bution of these genera and is well repre- comment from every author discussing the sented in western Canada by three species genus, and in two instances (Ewing and Fox (Holland 1949), two of which enter the 1943, Hubbard 1947) the genus has been in- United States by way of the Sierra-Cascade cluded in the Pulicoidea rather than in the mountain chain and the Rocky Mountains. Ceratophylloidea where it was rightfully Megarthroglossus is also represented in Can- placed by Jordan and Rothschild (1915). ada and extends as far south as Texas where The past taxonomic confusion has undoubt- M. divisus (Baker) and M. bisetis Jordan and edly resulted from loss of the more obvious Rothschild have been collected (Mendez distinctive characters typical of Ceratophyl- 1956). Conorhinopsylla is an eastern genus loidea, which has brought about a super- and is not found further west than Kansas. ficial resemblance of Anomiopsyllus and the Mendez (1956) has stated that Megarth- Pulicoidea. roglossus is more closely related to Ano- The outstanding features of Anomiop- miopsyllus than any