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Updated: May 3, 2026

Diagnosis of Ecto- and Endoparasites in Laboratory Rats and Mice
Published on: September 6, 2011
Evidence of castrations in fleas of small mammals (Chiroptera and Rodentia) from Argentina
M Fernanda López Berrizbeitia1,2,3, M Julieta Pérez4
1PCMA (Programa de Conservación de los Murciélagos de Argentina), and PIDBA (Instituto de Investigaciones de Biodiversidad Argentina), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e IML, UNT, Miguel Lillo, Argentina. flopezberri@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Morphological abnormalities in fleas seem to be common in nature and are under reported in Argentina. In this note, we describe anomalies in two males and one female of Alectopsylla unisetosa Mahnert (Ischnopsyllidae) and one of Polygenis sp. (Rhopalopsyllidae) male collected from small mammals in the provinces of Neuquen and Salta, Argentina. In all specimens, the anomalies were observed at the level of the genitalia recognized as partial castration. The structures mainly affected were the modified abdominal segments, the aedeagus (in male), and the spermatheca (in female). The present communication is the first one devoted exclusively to teratogenous fleas in Argentina.
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