Laelaps echidninus

Lae·laps e·chid·ni·nus

(lē'laps ē'kid-nī'nŭs), The spiny rat mite, a common worldwide ectoparasite of the wild Norway rat and occasionally found on the house mouse, cotton rat, and other rodents; it is the natural vector of Hepatozoon muris and can transmit the agent of tularemia experimentally. Junin virus has been isolated from this species in South America.