Fleas (Siphonaptera) of Eulipotyphla in the Caucasus

Abstract

Insectivores (order Eulipotyphla) are an important component of terrestrial ecosystems. They are active consumers of small animals, primarily arthropods, and the main pathogen carriers in a number of natural foci of tularemia, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, and leptospirosis; they may also be infected with the plague microbe. The arthropods that parasitize insectivores may be infected with these pathogens and serve as their vectors. In this paper, we have analyzed the taxonomic diversity, distribution pattern, and host-parasite relationships of the flea species recorded as parasites of Eulipotyphla in the Caucasus. Insectivores and their fleas migrated to the Caucasus from Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and West Asia in the Pliocene and Pleistocene simultaneously with the migration of floral complexes.