| Ornithodoros gurneyi | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Ixodida |
| Family: | Argasidae |
| Genus: | Ornithodoros |
| Species: | O. gurneyi |
| Binomial name | |
| Ornithodoros gurneyi | |
Ornithodoros gurneyi, a kangaroo soft tick, is a species of the argasid family. [2] A parasite found in arid regions of Australia, the species occurs on red kangaroos, lizards and people.
The species was described by Cecil Warburton in the journal Parasitology , published in 1926. [1]
Ornithodoros gurneyi is mostly known as a parasite of the red kangaroo ( Osphranter rufus ) and wallabies. The life cycle includes three to five instar stages before progressing to an adult. When not attached to a host, it resides in the soil of caves and the wallows made by kangaroos beneath shady trees. An investigation of its anecdotal reputation for biting humans reported one verified instance along with other records. [3] In addition to mammal species, O. gurneyi is known to occur on the reptilian species Pogona barbata (a bearded dragon) and Tiliqua rugosa (shingleback or bobtail lizard). A study of bobtail lizards in captivity found the animal was a suitable host for this species, surviving and moulting, and may have a role in their dispersal to new sites. [4]
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes.
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.
Tiliqua rugosa, most commonly known as the shingleback lizard or bobtail lizard, is a short-tailed, slow-moving species of blue-tongued skink endemic to Australia. It is commonly known as the shingleback or sleepy lizard. Three of its four recognised subspecies are found in Western Australia, where the bobtail name is most frequently used. The fourth subspecies, T. rugosa asper, is the only one native to eastern Australia, where it goes by the common name of the eastern shingleback.
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.
Carios erraticus, formerly called Ornithodoros erraticus, is a species of tick in the family Argasidae. The tick was described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1849.
Ornithodoros is a genus in the soft-bodied tick family, Argasidae.
Ornithodoros hermsi is a species of soft tick. It can be infected with Borrelia hermsii.
Ornithodoros moubata, commonly known as the African hut tampan or the eyeless tampan, is a species of tick in the family Argasidae. It is an ectoparasite and vector of relapsing fever in humans, and African swine fever in pigs.
Hemolivia is a genus of the phylum Apicomplexia.
Ornithodoros turicata, commonly referred to as the relapsing fever tick, is a soft tick found in the midwestern and southwestern United States. It is a known vector of Borrelia turicatae, a spirochete responsible for tick-borne relapsing fever in humans. Additionally, vector competence for the transmission of Leptospira pomona, the agent of canine jaundice, has been demonstrated in a laboratory setting.
Borrelia kurtenbachii is a spirochete bacterium; it can be pathogenic, being involved in cases of Lyme borreliosis.
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.
Royal Farm virus, previously known as Karshi virus, was not viewed as pathogenic or harmful to humans. Although infected people suffer with fever-like symptoms, some people in Uzbekistan have reported with severe disease such as encephalitis and other large outbreaks of fever illness connected infection with the virus.
Amblyomma gervaisi is a hard-bodied tick of the genus Amblyomma. The tick is a parasite of snakes, such as Naja naja, Python molurus species and monitor species such as Varanus ocellatus, Varanus yemenensis, Varanus benghalensis, Varanus griseus and many other Varanus species in southeastern Asia and Asia-minor. They exhibit sexual dimorphism. They can be found in Sri Lanka, India, Yemen, Saudi Arabia. It is a potential vector for Coxiella burnetii.
Haemaphysalis anomala is a hard-bodied tick of the family Ixodidae. It is found in India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. It is an obligate ectoparasite of mammals.
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.