Species Xenopsylla cunicularis Smit, 1957

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Regional Maps

• Xenopsylla cunicularis Smit, F.G.A.M. 1957. A new species of Xenopsylla, parasitic on rabbits in Morocco. Archives de l'Institut Pasteur du Maroc 5: 201-205 [203].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Nefifik, Morocco.
  Paratype(s) BMNH 33♂ 64♀.

  Type host:

   Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) [LEPORIDAE] (ex warrens of Oryctolagus cuniculus)

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Deliberately introduced into Australia as a potential vector for myxoma virus.

Introduced from Spain.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Kanmantoo (KAN), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin
  • Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, NE coastal
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Ectoparasitic (host(s): Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) [LEPORIDAE] Rabbit), sanguinivore.

Extra Ecological Information

Only known host.

 

General References

Cooke, B.D. 1990. Notes on the comparative reproductive biology and the laboratory breeding of the rabbit flea Xenopsylla cunicularis Smit (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 38: 527-534

Hopkins, G.H.E. & Rothschild, M. 1953. Catalogue of the Rothschild Collection of Fleas (Siphonaptera) in the British Museum (Natural History). London : British Museum Vol. 1 xv 359 pp. 45 pls. [336] (incorrectly identified this species as Xenopsylla ramesis (Rothschild, 1904))

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		12-Feb-2010	(import)