A cladistic and biogeographic analysis of Chinese Neopsylla Wagner (Siphonaptera : Ctenophthalmidae)

Abstract

A cladistic analysis of 29 Chinese species of Neopsylla Wagner, 1903 is carried out based on morphology. Rothschildiana Smit, 1952 and Tamiophila Jordan, 1938, two close relatives of Neopsylla, are also included in the analysis. The results support four species-groups among the Neopsylla: the anoma-group, the stevensi-group, the specialis-group and the setosa-group, and an independent species, N. angustimanubra Wu, Wu & Liu, 1966. Species of Rothschildiana are included in the stevensi-group and Tamiophila grandis is a member of the setosa-group. Therefore Neopsylla is a paraphyletic group and Rothschildiana and Tamiophila are junior synonyms. The four species-groups show different distributions and host preferences. Rattus is the primary host of the anoma- and stevensi-groups, although some species of the anoma-group have shifted to Myospalax. The specialis-group predominantly infects Apodemus. The setosa-group shifted host preference from the Murinae to genera of Cricetinae and Sciurinae. The reasons for the changes in host and distributions of the species-groups are discussed in relation to the zoogeographic history of China.