Hoplopleura sciuricola Ferris

Ex Sciurus carolinensis (gray squirrel): 1F, NC, Swain Co., Cherokee, Sep. 2000, K. Walters, L­3008; 1F, 1M, TN, Sevier Co., Sugarlands on US 441, 19 Dec. 2005, W. K. Reeves, L­3329.

Ex Tamiasciurus hudsonicus (red squirrel): GSMNP, 20 Sep. 1936, E. V. Komarek (Durden et al. 1997a).

This tree squirrel­associated sucking louse is widely distributed in North, Central, and South America (Durden & Musser 1994). Durden et al. (1997a) reported H. sciuricola from Tennessee and the GSMNP. This louse has been implicated in the transmission of Rickettsia prowazekii, the agent of epidemic typhus (Bozeman et al., 1981). In addition an undescribed genotype of Bartonella was detected in this louse (Durden et al. 2004).