Ornithodoros madagascariensis

Last updated

Ornithodoros madagascariensis
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Subclass: Acari
Order: Ixodida
Family: Argasidae
Genus: Ornithodoros
Subgenus: Reticulinasus
Species:
O. madagascariensis
Binomial name
Ornithodoros madagascariensis
Hoogstraal, 1962

Ornithodoros madagascariensis is a "soft tick" (family Argasidae) that parasitizes cave-inhabiting fruit bats in the genus Megachiroptera . [1] First circumscribed in 1962 by Harry Hoogstraal, it is classified in the subgenus Reticulinasus. [1]

When engorged with the blood of their host, the larvae of O. madagascariensis measure slightly over 1.0 mm from the apex of the anterior hypostome to the posterior body margin. [1] In the larval stage, O. madagascariensis and other members of the subgenus Reticulinasus are characterized by a reticulated Haller's organ, and in the adult stage by small size; piriform shape; absence of eyes, cheeks, a distinct hood and dorsal tarsal humps; and mammillated integument. [1] All stages have pulvilli that are unusually large for Ornithodoros ticks. [1] O. madagascariensis larvae have a heartshaped squamous area on the medial dorsal surface. [1] Their short hypostome resembles that of O. rennellensis, but the two species differ in other criteria. [1]

Distribution

Ornithodoros madagascariensis appears to be limited to the island of Madagascar. Other members of the subgenus have been collected in Malaya, Mindanao, Borneo, the Solomon Islands, Timor, India, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, and the Congo River region of Africa. [1]

Related Research Articles

Tick Order of arachnids in the arthropod phylum

Ticks are parasitic arachnids that are part of the superorder Parasitiformes. Along with mites, they constitute the subclass Acari. 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. It is estimated ticks originated during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 120 MYA, the earliest tick fossil in New Jersey amber is dated at 90-94 million years old. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates.

<i>Ixodes holocyclus</i> Species of tick

Ixodes holocyclus, commonly known as the Australian paralysis tick, is one of about 75 species of Australian tick fauna and is considered the most medically important. It can cause paralysis by injecting neurotoxins into its host. It is usually found in a 20-kilometre wide band following the eastern coastline of Australia. Within this range Ixodes holocyclus is the tick most frequently encountered by humans and their pets. As this area also contains the majority of Australia's most densely populated regions, incidents of bites on people, pets and livestock are relatively common.

Carios erraticus, formerly called Ornithodoros erraticus, is a species of tick in the family Argasidae. The tick was described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1849.

<i>Ornithodoros</i> Genus of arachnids in the soft-bodied tick family, Argasidae.

Ornithodoros is a genus in the soft-bodied tick family, Argasidae.

Harry Hoogstraal

Harry Hoogstraal was an American entomologist and parasitologist. He was described as "the greatest authority on ticks and tickborne diseases who ever lived." The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology honors his contributions to science.

<i>Ornithodoros hermsi</i> Species of tick

Ornithodoros hermsi is a species of soft tick. It can be infected with Borrelia hermsii.

<i>Ornithodoros moubata</i> Species of tick

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.

Ticks of domestic animals

Ticks of domestic animals directly cause poor health and loss of production to their hosts. Ticks also transmit numerous kinds of viruses, bacteria, and protozoa between domestic animals. These microbes cause diseases which can be severely debilitating or fatal to domestic animals, and may also affect humans. Ticks are especially important to domestic animals in tropical and subtropical countries, where the warm climate enables many species to flourish. Also, the large populations of wild animals in warm countries provide a reservoir of ticks and infective microbes that spread to domestic animals. Farmers of livestock animals use many methods to control ticks, and related treatments are used to reduce infestation of companion animals.

Gertrud Theiler was a South African parasitologist and teacher most noted for her work with nematodes and ticks.

Jane Brotherton Walker was a leading 20th century expert in the field of tick taxonomy, particularly in Africa.

Argas africolumbae , ' is a small soft-bodied tick that is found primarily on chickens and birds including the pale crag martin.

Argas walkerae Kaiser & Hoogstraal, 1969, as its common name "fowl tampan" reflects, is a soft-bodied argasid tick primarily parasitizing chickens and other domestic fowl. In South Africa its natural range spans the eastern region of Eastern Cape Province from the warmer coastal regions on the Indian Ocean in the south to the cooler mountainous Drakensberg range in the northeast of the Province, with local distribution more strongly associated with the presence of fowls and wooden fowl houses, than climate alone.

Makram Nasri Kaiser (1930–1996) was a medical and veterinary acarologist who was the world's leading authority on ticks of the genus Hyalomma.

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.

<i>Ornithodoros savignyi</i> Species of tick

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.

<i>Rhipicephalus pulchellus</i> Species of tick

The zebra tick or yellow back tick is a species of hard tick. It is common in the Horn of Africa, with a habitat of the Rift Valley and eastward. It feeds upon a wide variety of species, including livestock, wild mammals, and humans, and can be a vector for various pathogens. The adult male has a distinctive black and ivory ornamentation on its scutum.

Haemaphysalis luzonensis, the Luzon mountain glossy haemaphysalid, is an ixodid tick native to Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines first circumscribed by entomologists Dr. Harry Hoogstraal and United States Air Force Maj. Dale Parrish in 1968. Its common name reflects its glossy and nearly apunctate, in comparison to other Haemaphysalis ticks, dorsal integument.

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Harry Hoogstraal (1962). "Description of Ornithodoros (Reticulinasus) madagascariensis n. sp. (Ixodoidea, Argasidae)". Acarologia . 4: 185–189.