Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst) —tropical rat mite

Ex Rattus sp.: TN, Blount Co. (Pratt & Good 1954).

The tropical rat mite is widely distributed in the tropical, subtropical and mild temperate regions of the world together with its domestic rat hosts (Radovsky 1985). However, it also parasitizes several other mammals and Whitaker & Wilson (1974) list records from 37 species of mammals in North America alone. This hematophagous mite will bite humans and can cause “tropical rat mite dermatitis” (Durden et al. 1997b).