The hedgehog mange mite, Caparinia tripilis, in New Zealand

Authors: Brockie RE
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 22, Issue 12, pp 243-247, Dec 1974
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Wildlife
Subject Terms: Biosecurity, Inflammation, Integument/skin/wool/hair/fur/feather, Disease/defect, Disease surveillance, Parasites - external
Article class: Scientific Article

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Abstract: Michael (1889) recorded that while in Derbyshire, England, he found very active mites “running up and down the spines of hedgehogs with great rapidity” and described these as Symbiotes (- Caparinia) tripilis, their most distinctive feature being three long hairs borne on the third and fourth pairs of legs. Michael figured the female mite but could find not males among his specimens. The mite is still found on British hedgehogs but as a rare or occasioaal parasite (Morris and English, 1973). German hedgehogs, however, have been reported as dying from Caparinia infestations (Krumbiegel, 1930-1) and no fewer than 72% of the hedgehog Erinaceus albiventris examined at Nairobi, Kenya, were infested with Caparinia erinacei (Gregory, 1974a, b). These African Caparinia were of low pathogenicity, feeding on exuded blody fluids without burrowing into the skin. Anolther mite, Notoedres cati, often occurs in conjunction with C. erinacei and sometimes disables the hosts. Since the introduction of hedgehogs into New Zealand last century, their parasites received little attention until the writer examined 180 animals from Weillington between 1954 and 1957…

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