Similarity of ectoparasitic gamasid mite (Acari, Parasitiformes, Mesostigmata) communities on small mammals in Yunnan, China (In English)

摘要

The ectoparasitic gamasid mite species on the body surface of a certain species of small mammal are regarded as a community of mites. The similarity of ectoparasitic gamasid mite communities on 17 species of small mammals was studied in Yunnan Province, China. Based on hierarchical clustering analysis, a similarity comparison of 17 mite communities was conducted with SPSS11.5 software. Clustering analysis was based on the Pearson correlation coefficient for the nearest neighbor method. The results revealed these communities had high species abundance and diversity. The mite communities on the same genus of small mammals showed a high similarity and are classified into the same cluster. The clustering tendency of most mite communities was concordant with the taxonomic position of the corresponding small mammals on which the mites exist, but some of the mite communities are exceptions. The results suggest that ectoparasitic gamasid mite communities are related to host taxonomy and also possibly to host habitat [ Acta Zoologica Sinica 53 (2): 208–214, 2007].