Flea (Siphonaptera) and mite (Gamasina) faunas of small mammals on territories of "ecocide" and intensive economic development in South Vietnam

Fleas (1300 specimens) and mites (4500) were collected from 3162 small mamm als caught in natural landscapes (tropical forest, grasslands) and agricult ural lands, heathlands, and populated areas of South Vietnam. The list of f leas from wild mammals includes about 30 species, that of mites consists of about 20 species of the genus Laelaps. The small mammals inhabiting natura l grasslands, agricultural and "ecocide"-exposed lands (Mus, Bandicota, Rat tus) are not infested by fleas at all. Commensal rats were infested by the cosmopolitan flea Xenopsylla cheopis and by the mites Laelaps nuttalli, L. echidninus, Ornithonyssus bacoti, and Allodermanyssus muris. The most inten sive ectoparasitic exchange between wild and commensal rodents takes place in agricultural zones around small settlements. In the territories of fores ts and savannas investigated there are no conditions for existing plague mi crobes due to the absence of specific fleas on small mammals.