Notes on host relationships and host specificity of mites of the genus Pygmephorus (Acari: Pygmephoridae) on insectivores and rodents from Mount Carleton Provincial park, New Brunswick

Abstract A total of 7 species of Pygmephorus was taken on 269 small mammal hosts (insectivores and rodents) of 15 species from Mount Carleton Provincial Park, New Brunswick. (One of the species is new and will be described later.) Insectivores harbored far more individuals and species of Pygmephorus than did rodents, and microtine rodents harbored slightly more individuals than other rodents. Pygmephorus horridus Mahunka was the dominant species, followed by P. moreohorridus Mahunka and P. lutterloughae Smiley and Whitaker. Host specificity was not developed.