Abstract:

Objective: To explore species constitutes, species diversity, dominant species and their spatial distribution patterns of
chigger mites on Tupaia belangeri in Yunnan Province. Methods: Tupaia belangeri was captured with cage traps, the original survey data was gained from field investigation in 20 counties in Yunnan Province. The larvae of chigger mites on Tupaia belangeri were mainly collected from two auricles and external auditory canals by a bistoury and stored in 70% of ethanol. After slide-mounted with Hoyer's medium, every specimen was identified into species under a microscope. The structure of community and diversity of species were analyzed with the species richness （S）, evenness （J'）, Shannon-Wiener diversity index （H'）and dominance index（C'）. Coefficient（C）, Cassie index（CA）and patch index （m*/m）were used to measure the spatial distribution pattern. Results: 229 individuals of Tupaia belangeri were captured from 20 counties, and 13 609 individuals of chigger mites were collected. The collected
chigger mites belonged to 68 species, 10 genus in 3 subfamily, （excluding 4 indeterminate species）. The overall mite infestation prevalence and overall mite mean abundance was 33.6% and 59.4, respectively. Eight species of mites, which were found dominant on Tupaia belangeri, were Leptotrombidium sinicum, Leptotrombidium shuqui, Leptotrombidium yongshengense, Leptotrombidium scutellare, Leptotrombidium rusticum, Leptotrombidium yui, Leptotrombidium wangi and Helenicula simena. Eight dominant chigger mites on Tupaia belangeri showed an aggregated distribution pattern under 3 spatial measurement pattern above with the values higher than 0 or 1 （except H.simena, CA =0）. Conclusion: There were abundant chigger mites with high species diversity on Tupaia belangeri. The dominant species of chigger mites on Tupaia belangeri showed an aggregated distribution pattern.

Key words: chigger mite, Tupaia belangeri, species diversity, spatial distribution, Yunnan