Neodiplogynium vallei
Encyclopedia
Neodiplogynium vallei is a species of parasitic mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

 belonging to the family Diplogyniidae
Diplogyniidae
Diplogyniidae is a family of parasitic mites belonging to the order Mesostigmata. Many are parasites on beetles but some live on larger animals .-Taxonomy:This is a list of the described species...

. This is an oval species with a length of around ¾ mm. It is an ectoparasite found on brown rat
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....

s (Rattus norvegicus) in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the presence of a sclerotized
Sclerite
A sclerite is a hardened body part. The term is used in various branches of biology for various structures including hardened portions of sponges, but it is most commonly used for the hardened portions of arthropod exoskeletons....

 epigynal
Epigynum
Epigynum is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae....

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