Therya_notes_53

THERYA NOTES 2021, Vol. 2 : 151-155 DOI: 10.12933/therya_notes-21-53

Plusaetis sibynus (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae): a new record of flea on Didelphis virginiana, with a checklist of fleas for this host

Plusaetis sibynus (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae): nuevo reporte de pulga en Didelphis virginiana, con lista de pulgas para este hospedero

Yury Glebskiy1,2*, Roxana Acosta-Gutiérrez3, and Zenón Cano-Santana1

1Laboratorio de Interacciones y Procesos Ecológicos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C. P. 04510. Ciudad de México, México. E-mail: agloti@ciencias.unam.mx (YG); zcs@ciencias.unam.mx (ZC-S).

2Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Edificio D, 1er Piso, Circuito de Posgrados, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C. P. 04510. Ciudad de México, México.

3Museo de Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera”, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C. P. 04510. Ciudad de México, México. E-mail: roxana_a2003@yahoo.com.mx (RA-G).

*Corresponding author

Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) are hosts to a variety of fleas that can be important vectors for diseases, including some zoonosis; therefore, it is important to generate knowledge about the fleas that parasite this animal. We present the list of all fleas found on opossums, and the discovery of a species that has not been previously found on D. virginiana, neither on other marsupials. We collected fleas from Virginia opossums in the urban area of México City, México, and performed a bibliographical search to determine which species of fleas were previously recorded. We found previous records of 26 species of fleas on opossums, and we added the flea species Plusaetis sibynus to this list. Plusaetis sibynus is a common flea of rodents (mainly Peromyscus and Neotoma), representing a potential vector of diseases from these rodents to the opossum and human populations. Further research is needed to assess the role of this flea as a vector of zoonotic diseases.

Key words: Diseases; new world marsupials; Plusaetis sibynus; opossum; zoonosis.

El tlacuache de Virginia (Didelphis virginiana) es hospedero para una variedad de pulgas que pueden ser importantes vectores para la transmisión de enfermedades, incluyendo zoonosis; por lo tanto, es importante generar conocimiento sobre las pulgas que parasitan a este animal. En este trabajo, presentamos la lista de pulgas que parasitan a los tlacuaches, con la adición de una especie que no ha sido registrada previamente en D. virginiana, ni en otros marsupiales. Colectamos pulgas de tlacuaches de Virginia en el área urbana de la Ciudad de México, México, y también realizamos una búsqueda bibliográfica para determinar las especies de pulgas reportadas previamente. Encontramos registros de 26 especies de pulgas en los tlacuaches y añadimos a esta lista la especie de pulga Plusaetis sibynus. Plusaetis sibynus es una pulga común en roedores (principalmente Peromyscus y Neotoma), por lo que representa un vector potencial para la transmisión de enfermedades de estos roedores a los tlacuaches, y posteriormente a las poblaciones humanas. Se requieren más estudios para determinar el papel de esta pulga como vector de enfermedades zoonóticas.

Palabras clave: Enfermedades; marsupiales del Nuevo Mundo; Plusaetis sibynus; tlacuaches, zoonosis.

Fleas (Siphonaptera), among other parasites, are important vectors that transmit diseases (Krueger et al. 2016; Dean et al. 2018), both between individuals of the same species and between different species, including the transmission of significant zoonotic diseases like the bubonic plague (Dean et al. 2018). However, flea species have a certain range of host species on which they can inhabit, and between which they are likely to transmit the diseases. In this case, we studied fleas parasitizing the Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana Kerr, 1792, a very common and widely distributed marsupial (McManus 1974), adapted well to the urban environments (Wright et al. 2012). Such characteristics point out to the Virginia opossum as an important host of parasites known as vectors of zoonotic diseases, so specific studies are needed. Previous studies show that opossums are vectors of several zoonotic diseases: leptospirosis, salmonellosis (Ruiz-Piña et al. 2002), toxoplasmosis (Torres-Castro et al. 2016), among others, including microorganisms transmitted by fleas, most remarkable Rickettsia (Krueger et al. 2016). Therefore, this work aims to report a new species of flea found on a Virginia opossum and offer a checklist of fleas reported previously on this host species.

From January to March 2020, we live-trapped Virginia opossums in six locations in southern parts of the urban area of México City, México (Figure 1), using pitfall traps consisting of plastic containers 75 cm in height and 50 cm in diameter. We made a total effort of 144 trap-nights, and fleas were collected from Virginia opossums and stored in vials with 70 % ethanol and labeled (all captured opossums were released). Fleas were identified following Traub (1950), Acosta and Morrone (2003), and Salceda-Sánchez (2004).

Complementarily, we performed a bibliographical search of parasites hosted by the Virginia opossum, using the following terms: “pulga + Didelphis virginiana”, “flea + Didelphis virginiana”, and “Siphonaptera + Didelphis virginiana”.

We captured a total of 32 specimens of Virginia opossums and collected a total of 18 fleas on 12 individuals. Out of the total, 17 fleas were identified as Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché, 1835; Pulicidae) by the presence of the genal comb horizontal, usually extending entire length of lower margin of head and located below of eye, the genal spines are equal, and has a low sloping forehead (Salceda-Sánchez 2004), and 1 male individual of Plusaetis sibynus (Jordan, 1925) (Ceratophyllidae; Figure 2), by an occiput (in post antennal region) with 2 or more longish bristles behind base of antennal groove and 3 or more in the middle, arranged in rows; eighth tergum with 5 or 6 median and 2 ventral lateral bristles; and the eighth sternum (Traub 1950). This representing the first time P. sibynus is found on a Virginia opossum, or any other marsupial.

In the bibliographical search, we found 26 species of fleas belonging to 18 genera, and 5 families, which were previously reported on the Virginia opossum across 4 countries (Table 1). Plusaetis sibynus represents species number 27 in the checklist.

Before this work, P. sibynus was only reported for rodent species of the genera Peromyscus, Neotoma, and Reithrodontomys (Acosta 2005; Montiel et al. 2019). This report unveils a possible vector of zoonotic diseases between the rodents and opossums, and it is especially important since the host rodent genera are common in natural areas (or their remnants, such as parks inside urban areas), but not in the urbanized areas (Bolger et al. 1997; Harris et al. 2016), so their contact with humans is limited, yet opossums can occur in both (Wright et al. 2012). Therefore, hypothetically, the Virginia opossums could act as a bridge for microorganisms of public health concern, between the field rodents and the urban human populations. However, further studies are needed to truly assess the potential of disease transmission via this vector parasitizing Virginia opossums, and the identity of such diseases, especially considering that other species of the genus Plusaetis have proven to carry zoonotic bacteria like Bartonella (Sánchez-Montes et al. 2019).

When analyzing the historical records of fleas on Virginia opossums (Table 1), we found that the most common flea in geographical range, number of reports, and abundance, is the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Hernández-Camacho et al. 2014; Krueger et al. 2016; this study). This finding is relevant since it is a very common flea that can be hosted by many species, including domestic animals (Maina et al. 2016); therefore, it can move diseases even closer to human populations. We conclude that the Virginia opossum has an important potential for spreading diseases, and the vectors connecting this species to other animals should be carefully studied.

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to I. Castellanos-Vargas and M. Guzmán-Torres for technical support, and to E. G. Vázquez-Domínguez, V. M. Sánchez-Cordero, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments. Also, to the teams of SEREPSA (S. Cram-Heydrich), Cuicuilco Archeological Zone (R. López Valenzuela), Villa Olímpica Sports Center (M. Barrera-Rangel), and Taller de Plantas of the Faculty of Sciences, UNAM (M. E. Muñiz Díaz), for facilitating the permissions and support. This work was possible thanks to a scholarship provided by the CONACYT to YG (CVU 817316), and the PAPIIT grant IN212121 (El efecto de la urbanización sobre el tlacuache Didelphis virginiana en un matorral xerófilo de la Ciudad de México), awarded to ZCS.

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Associated editor: Cristian Kraker-Castañeda

Submitted: September 3, 2021; Reviewed: October 8, 2021.

Accepted: October 14, 2021; Published on line: November 3, 2021.

Table 1. List of families and flea species on the Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana, and the countries where they are reported.

Species	Country	Reference
Ceratophyllidae
Nosopsyllus fasciatus (Bosc, 1800)	USA	Elbel 1951
Orchopeas howardi (Baker, 1895)	USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959
Orchopeas leucopus (Baker, 1904)	USA	Whitaker et al. 1976
Orchopeas wickhami (Baker, 1895)	USA	Shaftesbury 1934
Oropsylla arctomys (Baker, 1904)	USA	Holland and Benton 1968
Plusaetis sibynus (Jordan, 1925)	México	This study
Hystrichopsyllidae
Corrodopsylla hamiltoni (Traub, 1944)	USA	Schiefer and Lancaster 1970
Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes Baker, 1904	USA	Whitaker et al. 1976
Epitedia neotomae Jameson, 1946	USA	McAllister et al. 2017
Leptopsyllidae
Ctenopsyllus catatina (Jordan 1928)	USA	Shaftesbury 1934
Leptopsylla segnis (Schonherr, 1811)	USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959
Odontopsyllus multispinosus (Baker, 1898)	USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959
Pulicidae
Cediopsylla simplex (Baker, 1895)	USA	Whitaker et al. 1976
Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826)	USA	Whitaker et al. 1976
Ctenocephalides felis (Bouche, 1835)	Guatemala, México, USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959; Villalobos-Cuevas et al. 2016; Escobar et al. 2011; this study
Echidnophaga gallinacea (Westwood, 1875)	USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959
Hoplopsyllus glacialis (Taschenberg, 1880)	México, USA	Schiefer and Lancaster 1970; Hernández-Camacho et al. 2014
Pulex irritans Linnaeus, 1759	México, USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959; Villalobos-Cuevas et al. 2016
Pulex porcinus Jordan & Rothschild, 1924	México	Villalobos-Cuevas et al. 2016
Pulex simulans Baker, 1895	México, USA	Wilson and Bishop 1966
Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild, 1903)	USA	Mohr and Morlan 1959
Rhopalopsyllidae
Polygenis gwyni (C. Fox, 1914)	USA	McAllister et al. 2017
Polygenis martinezbaezi Vargas, 1951	México	Hernández-Camacho et al. 2014
Rhopalopsyllus australis (Rothschild, 1904)	México	Villalobos-Cuevas et al. 2016
Rhopalopsyllus coxi Eads, 1946	USA	Randolph and Eads 1946
Rhopalopsyllus lugubris Jordan & Rothschild, 1908	Costa Rica	Durden and Campbell 2016
Chaetopsylla lotoris (Stewart, 1926)	USA	Whitaker et al. 1976