| Ornithodoros Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ornithodoros savignyi | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Ixodida |
| Family: | Argasidae |
| Genus: | Ornithodoros C. L. Koch, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Ornithodoros savignyi Audouin, 1827 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Ornithodoros is a genus in the soft-bodied tick family, Argasidae.
The opening between the midgut and hindgut has been lost, making the ticks unable to pass digestive waste products out of their bodies. [2]
The Linnean name derives from ornithos (Greek : ὄρνιθος) and doros (Greek : Δωρόν), meaning "bird" and "gift", respectively.
It contains these species: [1]
Carios erraticus was previously placed in this genus, as Ornithodoros erraticus.
Ticks are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are from the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years old. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates.
The Argasidae are the family of soft ticks, one of the three families of ticks. The family contains 193 species, although the composition of the genera is less certain, and more study is needed before the genera can become stable. The currently accepted genera are Antricola, Argas, Nothoaspis, Ornithodoros, and Otobius. The Argasidae are very common in South Asia, along with 96 other species of ticks, making South Asia the region with the highest biodiversity of ticks worldwide. Soft ticks are resistant to desiccation and can live for several years in arid conditions.
Ixodes is a genus of hard-bodied ticks. It includes important disease vectors of animals and humans, and some species inject toxins that can cause paralysis. Some ticks in this genus may transmit the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi responsible for causing Lyme disease. Additional organisms that may be transmitted by Ixodes are parasites from the genus Babesia, which cause babesiosis, and bacteria from the related genus Anaplasma, which cause anaplasmosis.
Amblyomma is a genus of hard ticks. Some are disease vectors, for example the Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Brazil or ehrlichiosis in the United States.
Rhipicephalus is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks, consisting of about 74 or 75 species. Most are native to tropical Africa.
Amblyomma cajennense or Cayenne tick is a species of tick found in a range from the southern part of the United States to northern Argentina, through Central America and some of the Caribbean. As a consequence, the species has adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. There are also major geographic barriers such as large rivers and the Andes mountain range.
Carios erraticus, formerly called Ornithodoros erraticus, is a species of tick in the family Argasidae. The tick was described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1849.
Rhipicephalus hoogstraali is a tick found in Djibouti and Somalia. First recognized by Harry Hoogstraal as Rhipicephalus longicoxatus based on an incomplete published description, after discovery of the holotype of R. longicoxatus, it was described and named to honor Hoogstraal in 2009.
Antricola marginatus is a species of tick in the family Argasidae. Like Nothoaspis, another genus in the same family, Antricola species infest cave-dwelling bats; A. marginatus is found on Cuba and Puerto Rico. Unusually for a tick, A. marginatus shows maternal care of its offspring.
Nothoaspis reddelli, also known as Carios reddelli, is a tick that feeds on the ghost-faced bat.
Amblyomma patinoi is a species of tick of the genus Amblyomma. The species is associated with the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Rickettsia species can habitate A. patinoi endosymbiotically.
Amblyomma tonelliae is a species of tick of the genus Amblyomma. The species is associated with dry areas of the Chaco region, spanning central-northern Argentina to Bolivia and Paraguay. Rickettsia species can habitate A. tonelliae endosymbiotically.
Ornithodoros savignyi, known as sand tampan, African eyed tampan or Kalahari sand tampan, is one of some 37 species in the genus Ornithodoros and is a soft tick with a leathery, mammillated integument, causing paralysis and tampan toxicosis, two unrelated conditions. The sand tampan is an ectoparasite on humans, their livestock and wild animals, including birds and bats. Occurring in semi-desert areas of Africa, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Persian Gulf, India, Sri Lanka and into Asia, it is able to survive for lengthy periods without feeding, spending most of its life burrowed under sand or loose soil, often in wait for animals that rest or sleep under trees or in the lee of rocks, but also in places where people or their animals congregate such as marketplaces, places of worship, cattle kraals and village squares. The timing of its activity is geared to coincide with that of potential hosts, but hot sunny conditions are usually avoided. Because of its habit of feeding and dropping from its host, adult dispersal is limited, whereas larvae may remain attached to their hosts for several days. During its life cycle it will feed on multiple hosts between moults.
Antricola guglielmonei is a species of soft shell tick in the family Argasidae. Like Nothoaspis, another genus in the same family, Antricola species infest cave-dwelling bats. A. guglielmonei is similar to Antricola delacruzi of the same genus and have been found together on bat guano.
Ornithodoros madagascariensis is a "soft tick" that parasitizes cave-inhabiting fruit bats in the genus Megachiroptera. First circumscribed in 1962 by Harry Hoogstraal, it is classified in the subgenus Reticulinasus.
Margaropus is a genus of ticks, characterized as inornate, having eyes, lacking festoons, and with the legs of the male increasing in size from pair I to IV with the segments enlarged, giving them a beaded appearance, from which the genus name was taken, margaritopus signifying beady-legged; the species name memorialized naturalist and entomologist Wilhelm von Winthem.
Ornithodoros sawaii is a species of argasid tick that is parasitic on streaked shearwater and Swinhoe's storm petrel seabirds in Japan and Korea. The species name honors Hirofumi Sawa of Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.
Ornithodoros brasiliensis is a species of tick in the family Argasidae, or soft-bodied ticks, that occurs exclusively in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. O. brasiliensis is a known parasite of humans, dogs, and smaller mammals such as armadillos and skunks.
Maria Tonelli-Rondelli was an Italian entomologist who studied the taxonomy and identification of ticks (Ixodidae), especially South American species.
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