Alabidocarpus ricardoguerreroi, Morales-MalacaraK & Vázquez-XicoténcatlK & García-EstradaK & Colín-MartínezK & Almazán-MarínK & Valdes-SaucedoK & Ruiz-PiñaK & K & Reyes-NoveloK, 2025

Alabidocarpus ricardoguerreroi n. sp. is a permanent ectoparasitic mite that completes its entire life cycle on its host, making it a monoxenous species associated with Desmodus rotundus .

As such, it would be expected to be distributed across all populations of its host throughout its geographical range, which extends from the state of Tamaulipas in eastern Mexico, westward to

Sonora, southward through Central America, the Antilles in Trinidad, and into South America,

including Uruguay, Northern Argentina, and central Chile ( Greenhall et al. 1983).

However, this fur mite species, Alabidocarpus ricardoguerreroi n. sp., was found only in association with vampire bats from the Pacific slope, specifically in localities from the state of Oaxaca, México ( Table 2). Additionally, A. ricardoguerreroi n. sp. shows a differential prevalence from very low to high (10% – 100%), with an average prevalence of 18.9%

across different collecting sites on the Pacific slope. This prevalence is comparable to other monoxenous mite species, such as Periglischrus herrerai Machado-Allison ( Mesostigmata :

Spinturnicidae ), which is associated with Desmodus rotundus in some regions of the neotropics,

where the average prevalence is moderate, around 27% ( Morales-Malacara et al. 2018).

Therefore, this prevalence could be considered a stable minimum for the survival of monoxenous ectoparasites associated with bats.

Alabidocarpus ricardoguerreroi n. sp. is phenetically similar to A. longipilus in that the posterior border of the prescapular plate is slightly curved and sinuous, without posterolateral projections. However, A. ricardoguerreroi n. sp. can be easily distinguished from A. longipilus by the fine, setiform seta 4a on Coxa IV (in A. longipilus , seta 4a is short and thickened), and the medium to large size of setae c3 (in A. longipilus , seta c3 is short). Furthermore, the two species are associated with different families and genera of bats. A. ricardoguerreroi n. sp. is associated with the Phyllostomid common vampire bat D. rotundus , whereas A. longipilus is found on Vespertilionid bats of the genus Myotis in the Americas.

It is noteworthy that no evidence of this chirodiscid species was found on the Atlantic slope in the state of Yucatán, México, or in the central region of México in the state of Querétaro, México, creating a paradox: Why?

A possible explanation is that there may be evidence of a disjunction in the ancient dispersal routes of at least two different populations of D. rotundus in the neotropical region of México, e.g., disjunct variations have been observed in the bat genus Chiroderma on both the Atlantic (Eastern Mexico) and Pacific slopes (Western Mexico) ( Garbino et al. 2020). While A. ricardoguerreroi n. sp. is present on vampire bats from the Pacific slope, it is absent in populations of D. rotundus from the Atlantic or Gulf slopes, as well as from the central region of México.

Another potential explanation for this paradox could involve the close morphological similarities between A. ricardoguerreroi and A. longipilus , which could reflect certain evolutive affinity. Considering that some studies have occasionally found that D. rotundus and Myotis

spp. share roosts in other regions of the country ( Conde-Pérezprina et al. 2012), which could facilitate horizontal transmission of mites between both species of bats. Given that chirodiscid mites are permanent ectosymbionts, a speciation process may have begun based on the morphological characteristics of their host.

However, to confirm these hypotheses, it will be necessary to collect common vampire bats from other localities to determine whether Alabidocarpus ricardoguerreroi n. sp. is present or absent.