Preliminary research on community and evolution ecology of fleas on small mammals of 19 counties in Yunnan,China

Objective To investigate the community and evolution ecology of fleas on small mammals of 19 counties in Yunnan. Methods The parameters of community ecology: richness (S), evenness (J),diversity index (H), dominance index (C), PIE and constituent ratios (Cr) were used for analyses in this paper. Results 10 856 small mammals were captured, which belong to 10 families, 27 genera and 47 species. A total of 9 532 fleas were collected from the small mammal hosts and were identified into 5 families, 22 genera and 39 species. Five dominant small mammals are Rattus flavipectus, Eothenomys miletus, Apodemus chevrieri, Rattus norvegicus and Mus pahari which account for 71.69% of the total individuals, while the dominant fleas are Ctenophthalmus quadratus, Xenopsylla cheopis, Leptopsylla segnis, Macrostylophora euteles and Neopsylla specialis specialis (74.33% out of the total). Conclusion The diversity index of flea community was consistent with that of small mammal community in different habitats. The dominant species of fleas were also in accordance with the dominant species of small mammals in different habitats. The dominant flea species in a certain habitat was also the dominant flea species on the body surface of a certain species of small mammal hosts. The results might be an evidence of coevolution between fleas and their small mammal hosts. Key words: Siphonaptera; Flea; Community; Coevolution; Yunnan