Three new species of Laelaps (Acari: Laelapidae) associated with small mammals in central Brazil.

Three new species of Laelaps Koch are described and illustrated from small mammals in the Federal District of Brazil. Each new species is primarily associated with one species of rodent: L. valdevinoi n. sp. from Calomys tener (Winge); L. fonsecai n. sp. from Rhipidomys mastacalis (Lund); and L. furmani n. sp. from Oryzomys bicolor (Tomes). Two of the new species were previously included under names species, from which they are now separated: L. fonsecai n. sp. from L. paulistanensis Fonseca, 1935; L. furmani n. sp. from L. acuminata Furman, 1972. Descriptions of the three new species are based on the female; the male of L. valdevinoi is also described. Diagnoses are included, providing characteristics by which the new species can be distinguished from previously described South American Laelaps.