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New Zealand bat flea

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(Redirected from Porribius pacificus) Species of flea

New Zealand bat flea
Conservation status

Nationally Vulnerable (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Siphonaptera
Family: Ischnopsyllidae
Genus: Porribius
Species: P. pacificus
Binomial name
Porribius pacificus
Jordan, 1946

The New Zealand bat flea (Porribius pacificus) is a threatened species of flea endemic to New Zealand. The species was first described in 1946 from samples collected near Masterton in 1915, and from chocolate wattled bats on Pelorus Island.

It is adapted to living with the New Zealand long-tailed bat; like this bat species, the flea's closest relatives are in Australia, and its ancestor is likely to have colonised New Zealand from Australia with its host within the last 2 million years. It has also been recorded as living on the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat, but these occurrences are thought to be accidental.

Conservation status

The New Zealand bat flea was given the conservation status of "Nationally Vulnerable" by the Department of Conservation in 2015.

References

  1. ^ Jordan, H.E.K. (1946). "On a new genus and species of bat-fleas from the Pelorus Islands and New Zealand". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 76: 208–210.
  2. Meduna, Veronika (2007). "Bats - Lesser short-tailed bats and long-tailed bats". Te Ara – Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  3. Smit, F.G.A.M. (1979). "The Fleas of New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 9: 143–232. doi:10.1080/03036758.1979.10419413.
  4. Heath, Allen C.G.; Stringer, I. A. N.; Hitchmough, Rod A.; Rolfe, Jeremy (2015). "Conservation status of New Zealand fleas, 2014" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 12: 1–5. ISSN 2324-1713.

External links

Taxon identifiers
Porribius pacificus


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