Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2020-08-26
Page range: 248–256
Abstract views: 93
PDF downloaded: 3

Updated list of fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) of the Korean Peninsula, with the presence of Rhadinopsylla alphabetica Jameson & Sakaguti in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Art, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, 60250, Tokat, Turkey.
Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Zoologie appliquée, Faculté de Médecine, 2 avenue du Prof. Léon-Bernard, 35043 Rennes cedex, France.
Siphonaptera Checklist Fauna Fleas Korea new record

Abstract

During the re-examination of some specimens in the Siphonaptera collection of J.-C. Beaucournu, we noticed unidentified Rhadinopsylla specimens. After the detailed comparison, they were identified as Rhadinopsylla alphabetica Jameson & Sakaguti. These specimens of R. alphabetica were collected from Grey Red-backed Vole, Myodes rufocanus (Sundevall), in Ryanggang province of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of R. alphabetica in the DPRK. Our specimens of R. alphabetica have some minor differences from Alaskan and Japanese populations. To draw attention to these differences we also provide detailed drawings of R. alphabetica specimens in the present study. The information on the flea fauna of the Korean peninsula is very fragmentary and articles on fleas of the Korean peninsula have been published in different languages. Therefore, it is very difficult to find accessible and updated flea list of the Korean peninsula for the scientific community. Based on the published and accessible literature, we provide a list of 45 flea taxa from the Korean peninsula.

 

References

  1. Ahn, Y.K. & Soh, C.T. (1974) Flea fauna of rodents in coastal region of Korea : Insecticide susceptibility test of Xenopsylla cheopis. The Korean Journal of Parasitology, 12, 33–44. [in Korean]

    https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1974.12.1.33

    Beaucournu, J.-C. & Kowalski, K. (1990) Quelques siphonapteres (Insecta) de Republique democratique de Coree. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 33, 331–344. [in French]

    Bitam, I., Dittmar, K., Parola, P., Whiting, M.F. & Raoult, D. (2010) Fleas and flea-borne diseases. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 14, e667–e676.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2009.11.011

    Cho, S.Y. (1995) The Korean Terminology of Parasitology (II). The Scientific Terminology Committee and The Korean Society for Parasitology, Seoul, 64 pp.

    Cyprich, D., Pinowski, J., Pinowska, B. & Krumpál, M. (1999) Contribution to the fleas (Siphonaptera) of the tree sparrow (Passer montanus) from Korea. International Studies on Sparrows, 26, 59–61.

    Darskaya, N.F. (1961) On the geographical distribution of some species of fleas originally described from North Korea. Proceedings of the Anti-Plague Research Institute of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, 5, 176–183. [in Russian]

    Gordon, S., Robbins, R., Harlan, H., Sames, W., Lawrence, K., Klein, T., Beavers, M., Bowles, D., Stell, F. & Soper, A. (2015) Regional Disease Vector Ecology Profile: The Koreas. Armed Forces Pest Management Board, Silver Spring, Maryland, 139 pp.

    Haas, G.E., Barrett, R.E. & Wilson, N. (1978) Siphonaptera from mammals in Alaska. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 56, 333–338.

    https://doi.org/10.1139/z78-045

    Holland, G.P. (1985) The fleas of Canada, Alaska and Greenland (Siphonaptera). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 117, 3–632.

    https://doi.org/10.4039/entm117130fv

    Hopkins, G.H.E. & Rothschild, M. (1962) An illustrated catalogue of the Rothschild collection of fleas (Siphonaptera) in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. III. Hystrichopsyllidae. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, 549 pp.

    Hopla, C.E. (1965) Alaskan hematophagous insects, their feeding habits and potential as vectors of pathogenic organisms. 1. The Siphonaptera of Alaska. Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, 267 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.21236/AD0469666

    Tsai-Yu, H. (1948) Epidemiology of the diseases of naval inmportance in Korea. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., ix + 89 pp.

    Jameson, E.W. (1953) The fleas of Japan and Korea. Office of the Surgeon General, United States Armed Forces, Far East, 26 pp.

    Jameson, E.W. & Sakaguti, K. (1959) Two new fleas of the genus Rhadinopsylla (Siphonaptera). Medical Entomology and Zoology, 10, 159–163.

    https://doi.org/10.7601/mez.10.159

    Jameson, E.W. & Suyemoto, W. (1955) Nycteridopsylla sakagutii, a new bat flea from Korea. Medical Entomology and Zoology, 6, 19–20.

    https://doi.org/10.7601/mez.6.19

    Jo, Y.-S., Baccus, J.T. & Koprowski, J.L. (2018) Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status. Zootaxa, 4522 (1), 1–216.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4522.1.1

    Kim, B.-J., Kim, S.-J., Kang, J.-G., Ko, S., Won, S., Kim, H., Kim, H.-C., Kim, M.-S., Chong, S.-T., Klein, T.A., Lee, S. & Chae, J.-S. (2013) First report for the seasonal and annual prevalence of flea-borne Bartonella from rodents and soricomorphs in the Republic of Korea. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 13, 457–467.

    https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2012.1115

    Ko, S., Kim, H.-C., Yang, Y.-C., Chong, S.-T., Richards, A.L., Sames, W.J., Klein, T.A., Kang, J.-G. & Chae, J.-S. (2011) Detection of Rickettsia felis and Rickettsia typhi and seasonal prevalence of fleas collected from small mammals at Gyeonggi Province in the Republic of Korea. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 11, 1243–1251.

    https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2010.0261

    Lewis, R.E. (1993) Notes on the geographical distribution and host preferences in the order Siphonaptera. Part 8. New taxa described between 1984 and 1990, with a current classification of the order. Journal of Medical Entomology, 30, 239–256.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/30.1.239

    Medvedev, S.G. (2006) Classification of flea families (Siphonaptera): I. Family Hystrichopsyllidae (first part). Entomological Review, 86, 460–477.

    https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873806040117

    Nagahana, M. (1937a) Rat-flea survey in Chosen (Korea). I. Species and distribution of rat-flea in Chosen. Journal of Chosen Medical Association, 27, 1345–1353. [in Japanese]

    Nagahana, M. (1937b) Rat-flea survey in Chosen (Korea). II. The seasonal prevalence of rat-flea in Keijo. Journal of Chosen Medical Association, 27, 1637–1644. [in Japanese]

    Nagahana, M. (1938a) Rat-flea survey in Chosen (Korea). III. Rat-flea survey of the Port of Husan. Journal of Chosen Medical Association, 28, 810–819. [in Japanese]

    Nagahana, M. (1938b) Rat-flea survey in Chosen (Korea). IV. Rat-flea survey of Onpei-Men (a village on the outskirts of Keijo). Journal of Chosen Medical Association, 28, 964–970. [in Japanese]

    Nagahana, M. (1938c) Rat-flea survey in Chosen (Korea). V. Rat-flea survey of Singisyu. Journal of Chosen Medical Association, 28, 971–977. [in Japanese]

    Nagahana, M. (1954) Studies on rat-fleas of Korea. Japanese Journal of Sanitary Zoology, 4, 260–290. [in Japanese]

    https://doi.org/10.7601/mez.4.260

    Sakaguti, K. & Jameson, E.W. (1962) The Siphonaptera of Japan, Pacific Insects Monograph 3. Entomology Department, Bernice P. Bishop Muséum, Honolulu, 169 pp.

    Smit, F.G.A.M. (1955) Three subspecies of Ctenophthalmus congener Rothschild from the Far East. (Siphonaptera: Hystrichopsyllidae). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London, Series B, Taxonomy, 24, 69–75.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1955.tb01478.x

    Tipton, V.J., Southwick, W., Ah, H.S. & Yu, H.S. (1972) Fleas of Korea. Korean Journal of Parasitology, 10, 52.

    https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1972.10.1.52

    Traub, R., Rothschild, M. & Haddow, J.F. (1983) The Rothschild collection of fleas: the Ceratophyllidae: key to the genera and host relationships: with notes on their evolution, zoogeography, and medical importance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 288 pp.

    Walton, D.W. & Hong, H.K. (1976) Fleas of small mammals from the endemic haemorrhagic fever zones of Kyonggi and Kangwon Provinces of the Repubic of Korea. Korean Journal of Parasitology, 14, 17–24.

    https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1976.14.1.17

    Wilson, D.E. & Reeder, D.M. (2005) Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 2142 pp.