A REVIEW OF THE MUSTELID-INFESTING FLEAS IN THE FAMILY CERATOPHYLLIDAE (INSECTA: SIPHONAPTERA)

The three ceratophyllid taxa known to contain specific ectoparasites of mustelid hosts of the genera Mustela Linnaeus, 1758, and Martes Pinel, 1792, are discussed. The subgenera Kueichenlipsylla Smit, 1983, Paracallopsylla Ioff, 1936, and Rosickyiana Smit, 1972, are elevated to generic status. Individual accounts include generic diagnoses, more detailed descriptions of both sexes, where available, and illustrations of diagnostic characters employed in separating the genera. A key is provided that separates both the genera and the species involved. These are: Kueichenlipsylla atrox (Jordan, 1925), known only from the Canadian Sub-Region of the Nearctic Region; Paracallopsylla kaznakovi (Wagner, 1928), restricted to the higher elevations of Central Asia; and Rosickyiana lunata (Jordan and Rothschild, 1920), known from a number of collections from western Europe, east to Alaska and central Canada. The status of these taxa is reviewed and their modified nomenclatural ranking proposed. New synonymy is proposed for Ceratophyllus tundrensis Holland, 1945, as a junior synonym of Rosickyiana lunata (Jordan and Rothschild, 1920).