Molecular evidence of rodent-associated mites tests the monophyly and challenges the cosmopolitan status of Laelaps Koch, 1836 (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae)
- 1Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores CEPAVE (CONICET-UNLP), La Plata, Argentina
- 2Instituto de Diversidad y Evolución Austral (IDEAus-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina
- 3Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO), Quito, Ecuador
Abstract
The taxonomy of wide distributed parasites across continents has rarely been evaluated using molecular data, and it remains unclear whether their apparent broad distributions reflect true cosmopolitan and monophyletic lineages. There is also the expectation that long-term parasite–host associations shape the evolution of parasitic lineages and should therefore be reflected in parasite taxonomy. Laelaps Koch, 1836 (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) is an example of a widespread genus, reported from multiple continents, parasitizing Cricetidae and Muridae rodents. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether Laelaps is monophyletic and truly broadly distributed across continents. To this end, we generated new nuclear (18S-ITS1-5.8S-ITS2-28S) and mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase I) sequences from 8 species of Laelaps, and 4 related laelapid mite species of the genera Androlaelaps Berlese, 1903, Gigantolaelaps Fonseca, 1939 and Mysolaelaps Fonseca, 1936 associated with cricetid rodents from Argentina. Those sequences were analysed together with sequences from laelapids parasitizing native South American cricetids and from South Africa available in GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Laelaps is polyphyletic. Within Cricetidae, tribal host association appears to drive phylogenetic structure, with cricetid-associated Laelaps lineages recovered as more closely related to Gigantolaelaps and Mysolaelaps than to each other. Murid-associated Laelaps from South Africa were recovered as lineages separated from cricetid-associated Laelaps, suggesting that the deep divergence between Cricetidae and Muridae may also shape laelapid phylogeny, a pattern that requires broader sampling to be conclusively evaluated. These results challenge the monophyly and broad distributional status of Laelaps and highlight the need for integrative taxonomic revision of this genus.
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BibTeX
@article{espinozacarniglia2026molecular,
title = {{Molecular evidence of rodent-associated mites tests the monophyly and challenges the cosmopolitan status of Laelaps Koch, 1836 (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae)}},
author = {Mario Espinoza-Carniglia and Ekaterina Savchenko and Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas and Marcela Lareschi},
journal = {Parasitology},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1017/s0031182026102224},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182026102224},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Molecular evidence of rodent-associated mites tests the monophyly and challenges the cosmopolitan status of Laelaps Koch, 1836 (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae)
AU - Mario Espinoza-Carniglia
AU - Ekaterina Savchenko
AU - Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas
AU - Marcela Lareschi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/08
JO - Parasitology
DO - 10.1017/s0031182026102224
UR - https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182026102224
AB - The taxonomy of wide distributed parasites across continents has rarely been evaluated using molecular data, and it remains unclear whether their apparent broad distributions reflect true cosmopolitan and monophyletic lineages. There is also the expectation that long-term parasite–host associations shape the evolution of parasitic lineages and should therefore be reflected in parasite taxonomy. Laelaps Koch, 1836 (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) is an example of a widespread genus, reported from multiple continents, parasitizing Cricetidae and Muridae rodents. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether Laelaps is monophyletic and truly broadly distributed across continents. To this end, we generated new nuclear (18S-ITS1-5.8S-ITS2-28S) and mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase I) sequences from 8 species of Laelaps, and 4 related laelapid mite species of the genera Androlaelaps Berlese, 1903, Gigantolaelaps Fonseca, 1939 and Mysolaelaps Fonseca, 1936 associated with cricetid rodents from Argentina. Those sequences were analysed together with sequences from laelapids parasitizing native South American cricetids and from South Africa available in GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Laelaps is polyphyletic. Within Cricetidae, tribal host association appears to drive phylogenetic structure, with cricetid-associated Laelaps lineages recovered as more closely related to Gigantolaelaps and Mysolaelaps than to each other. Murid-associated Laelaps from South Africa were recovered as lineages separated from cricetid-associated Laelaps, suggesting that the deep divergence between Cricetidae and Muridae may also shape laelapid phylogeny, a pattern that requires broader sampling to be conclusively evaluated. These results challenge the monophyly and broad distributional status of Laelaps and highlight the need for integrative taxonomic revision of this genus.
SN - 0031-1820
SN - 1469-8161
ER -