''Eutrombicula'' is a genus of mites in the family
Trombiculidae
Trombiculidae (), commonly referred to in North America as chiggers and in Britain as harvest mites, but also known as berry bugs, bush-mites, red bugs or scrub-itch mites, are a family of mites. Chiggers are often confused with jiggers – a ...
. The species of this genus are found throughout North America, and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
The genus was first described by
Henry Ellsworth Ewing
Henry Ellsworth Ewing (11 February 1883 – 5 January 1951) was an American Arachnology, arachnologist.
He worked at several universities, but spent most of his career at the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine.
Ewing was considered an author ...
in 1938.
Two genera of chigger mites, each containing many species, are of concern to U.S. deployed military forces. They are ''Eutrombicula'' and ''
Leptotrombidium
''Leptotrombidium'' () is a genus of mites in the family Trombiculidae, that are able to infect humans with scrub typhus (''Orientia tsutsugamushi'' infection) through their bite. The larval form (called chiggers) feeds on rodents, but also occa ...
''. Chiggers in the genus ''Eutrombicula'', such as
''Eutrombicula alfreddugesi'', do not transmit any known pathogens to people, but they can cause irritating bites, dermatitis and severe itching when they feed on the unsuspecting host. They are widely distributed in the Western Hemisphere, and Europe. By comparison chiggers in the genus ''
Leptotrombidium
''Leptotrombidium'' () is a genus of mites in the family Trombiculidae, that are able to infect humans with scrub typhus (''Orientia tsutsugamushi'' infection) through their bite. The larval form (called chiggers) feeds on rodents, but also occa ...
'' are the vectors of
scrub typhus
Scrub typhus or bush typhus is a form of typhus caused by the intracellular parasite '' Orientia tsutsugamushi'', a Gram-negative α-proteobacterium of family Rickettsiaceae first isolated and identified in 1930 in Japan.[Australian Faunal Directory
The Australian Faunal Directory is an online catalogue of taxonomic and biological information on all animal species known to occur within Australia. It is a database produced by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water ...]
are:
* ''
Eutrombicula hirsti''
(Sambon, 1927)
* ''
Eutrombicula macropus''
(Womersley, 1936)
* ''
Eutrombicula rara''
(Walch, 1924)
* ''
Eutrombicula samboni''
(Womersley, 1939)
* ''
Eutrombicula sarcina''
(Womersley, 1944)
* ''
Eutrombicula southcotti''
(Womersley & Audy, 1957)
* ''
Eutrombicula thori''
(Womersley, 1952)
* ''
Eutrombicula tovelli''
(Womersley, 1952)
* ''
Eutrombicula vandiemeni''
(Domrow, 1962)
Non Australian species
Additional species listed by BioLib.
* ''
Eutrombicula alfreddugesi''
(Oudemans, 1902)
* ''
Eutrombicula chiricahuae''
Bennett & Loomis, 1981
* ''
Eutrombicula conantae''
Goff, 1984
* ''
Eutrombicula gigarara''
(Brown, 1997)
* ''
Eutrombicula lawrencei''
(Wharton & Fuller, 1952)
* ''
Eutrombicula onyongensis''
Goff & Easton, 1989
* ''
Eutrombicula orlovensis''
Hushcha, 1966
* ''
Eutrombicula wichmanni''
(Oudemans, 1905)
* ''
Eutrombicula wuyiensis''
Song & Wang, 1986
* ''
Eutrombicula xixie''
(Wen & Xiang, 1984)
* ''
Eutrombicula yunkeri''
Geoff & Ingels, 1983
Further reading
*
References
External links
*
Trombiculidae
Arachnids of Europe
Taxa described in 1838
Taxa named by Henry Ellsworth Ewing
Arachnids of Australia
{{Trombidiformes-stub