Notes on zoogeography and taxonomy of the badgers (Carnivora: Mustelidae: Meles) and some of their fleas (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae: Paraceras)

Abstract

A comparative morphological analysis of the fleas from the melis-flabellum species group of the genus Paraceras (Siphonaptera, Ceratophyllidae) is undertaken. Differences in the structure of the clasper and the 8th tergite allow considering P. melis and P. flabellum separate species. Morphological characters of the Japanese form of Paraceras make possible to treat it as an independent taxon. The distribution ranges of three badger species of the genus Meles (Carnivora, Mustelidae) are shown to correspond to those of their specific parasites, i.e. the fleas of the melis-flabellum species group of the genus Paraceras. Paraceras melis is restricted to the range of the European badger, Meles meles (Europe, the Caucasus, northern Iran and southern Kirgizia), while Paraceras flabellum is limited by the range of the Asian badger, Meles leucurus (Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Siberia, China).