Psoroptes

Psoroptes
	"Psoroptes cuniculi"
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Subclass:	Acari
Order:	Sarcoptiformes
(unranked):	Astigmatina
Family:	Psoroptidae
Genus:	Psoroptes; Gervais, 1841
Species:	P. equi
Binomial name
	Psoroptes equi; (Hering, 1838)
Synonyms
	Psoroptes cuniculi (Delafond, 1859); Psoroptes ovis (Hering, 1838); Psoroptes cervinus Ward, 1915; Psoroptes natalensis Hirst, 1919;

Psoroptes is a genus of mites, including the agents that cause psoroptic mange.

Psoroptic mange

Psoroptes mites are responsible for causing psoroptic mange in various animals, leading to economic losses among farmers of cattle, sheep and goats.^[1] It is also known as sheep scab and cattle scab.^[1] The disease is highly infectious, and is transmitted vis fenceposts and other structures that livestock use when scratching themselves.^[1] The mites have mouthparts which do not pierce the skin, but are adapted to feeding on the surface, where the mites abrade the stratum corneum.^[1]

Taxonomy

Psoroptes has been traditionally considered to include five species living on different host species, but the degree of host specificity is thought to have been overestimated, and the genus has been reduced to a single species, Psoroptes equi.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gary Mullen & Barry M. OConnor (2009). "Mites (Acari)". In Gary Mullen & Lance Durden (ed.). Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2nd ed.). Academic Press. pp. 423–482. ISBN 978-0-12-372500-4.
^ Monika Zahler, Wim M. L. Hendrikx, Anke Essig, Heinz Rinder & Rainer Gothe (2000). "Species of the genus Psoroptes (Acari: Psoroptidae): A taxonomic consideration". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 24 (3): 213–225. doi:10.1023/A:1006443722815. PMID 11108387.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Mullen-1] Gary Mullen & Barry M. OConnor (2009). "Mites (Acari)". In Gary Mullen & Lance Durden (ed.). Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2nd ed.). Academic Press. pp. 423–482. ISBN 978-0-12-372500-4.

[2] Monika Zahler, Wim M. L. Hendrikx, Anke Essig, Heinz Rinder & Rainer Gothe (2000). "Species of the genus Psoroptes (Acari: Psoroptidae): A taxonomic consideration". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 24 (3): 213–225. doi:10.1023/A:1006443722815. PMID 11108387.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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