| abstract | IXODES KUNTZI n. sp., described from numerous collections of females, nymphs, and larvae made at elevations between 210 m and 2400 m (chiefly 900-2100 m) in the southern two-thirds of Taiwan, commonly parasitizes flying squirrels (Petaurista lena and P. grandis) living in tall trees. Other hosts, recorded only for immature stages, are the Red-bellied Squirrel (Callosciurus erythraeus centralis), Striped Squirrel (Tamiops swinhoei formosanus), Field Mouse (Apodemus semotus), Spinous Country Rat (Rattus c. coxinga), White-bellied Rat (Rattus culturatus), and House Rat (Rattus rattus), as well as a Nuthatch (Sitta europaea). All hosts were in or closely associated with rich, dense rain forests at lower altitudes or with semi-deciduous broad-leaf forests at upper elevations. The male of I. kuntzi was not collected; it probably does not feed and is confined to nests of hosts of other stages of this tick. |