374 



BIOLOGY OF THE LABORATORY MOUSE 



Laboratories can well be constructed so as to inhibit the establishment of 

 bedbug infestations. Brick walls, concrete floors, and an absence of wooden 

 partitions all tend to eliminate the abundance of cracks in which the bugs 

 might hide. For this reason, metal racks are more desirable than wooden 

 ones. 



Other suggestions for bedbug control are given by Back (4). 



Mites 



Liponyssus bacoti (hirst). — The mite found most commonly infesting 

 the experimental mice in the Jackson Memorial Laboratory is Liponyssus 



Fig. 



-Tropical rat mite, Liponyssus bacoti (X50). A, dorsal view of female; B, 

 ventral view of female. {From Dove and Sliiljuirc.) 



bacoti* (Fig. 150). This is the tropical rat mite, which was lirst described 

 from Egypt, but which has since been found to occur in many widely sepa- 

 rated countries of the world. It has been found infesting rats quite com- 

 monly in some of the Southern States where it even frequently attacks man. 

 Dr. F. C. Bishopp of the U.S. Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quaran- 

 tine believes that this is the first time that this species has been reported as a 

 pest of laboratory animals. This is especially interesting in view of the fact 

 that the mice from which the present strains at the Jackson Laboratory 

 originated have been known to have been infested with mites since before 

 19 19, and although this is the first time that a specific determination has 

 been made, it seems quite possible that the same species has prevailed. The 



* Identified by Dr. H. E. Ewing of the U.S. Department of Entomology and Plant 

 Quarantine. 



