Host Specificity of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) (Acari: Ixodidae) with Comments on the Drop-off Rhythm

Lopes, Cristina Marques Lisbôa; Leite, Romário Cerqueira; Labruna, Marcelo Bahia; Oliveira, Paulo Roberto de; Borges, Lígia Miranda Ferreira; Rodrigues, Zénon Batista; Carvalho, Hermes; Freitas, Carolina Maria Vianna de; Júnior, Carlos Roberto Vieira

doi:10.1590/s0074-02761998000300014

Cited by 35 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The need to find a mate may also impose greater specificity on adults. Experimental studies also suggest that juvenile ticks have low levels of specificity (Oliver, 1989; James and Oliver, 1990; Belan and Bull, 1995; Marques Lisbôa Lopes et al 1998) and the juveniles of many species can be reared successfully on domestic rabbits. In South Africa, the larvae and nymph of ixodid tick species are typically found on small mammals, but these juvenile ticks have also been found on a large variety of domestic and wild animal species (Horak et al 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, most ticks are able to feed on a greater variety of host species (Oliver, 1989; Cumming, 1998). Experimental studies have revealed that they can feed and reproduce successfully using a wide diversity of hosts (James and Oliver, 1990; Belan and Bull, 1995; Marques Lisbôa Lopes et al 1998). In the wild, ticks are often collected from a limited number of species and may appear to be host specialists (Hoogstraal and Aeschlimann, 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of large new South African dataset using two host-specificity indices shows generalism in both adult and larval ticks of mammals

et al. 2015

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SUMMARYTicks and tick-borne pathogens can have considerable impacts on the health of livestock, wildlife, and people. Knowledge of tick host preferences is necessary for both tick and pathogen control. Ticks were historically considered as specialist parasites, but the range of sampled host species has been limited, infestation intensity has not been included in prior 1 analyses, and phylogenetic distances between hosts have not been previously considered.We used a large data set of 35,604 individual collections and two host specificity indices to assess the specificity of 61 South African tick species, as well as distinctions between adult and juvenile ticks, for 95 mammalian hosts. When accounting for host phylogeny, most adult and juvenile ticks behaved as generalists, with juveniles being significantly more generalist than adults. When we included the intensity of tick infestation, ticks exhibited a wider diversity of specificity in all life stages. Our results show that ticks of mammals in South Africa tend to behave largely as generalists and that adult ticks are more hostspecific. More generally, our analysis shows that the incorporation of life-stage differences, infestation intensity, and phylogenetic distances between hosts, as well as the use of more than one specificity index, can all contribute to a deeper understanding of host-parasite interactions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of large new South African dataset using two host-specificity indices shows generalism in both adult and larval ticks of mammals

et al. 2015

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“…The incubation period for A. tonelliae varied from 36 to 45 days, and for A. mixtum varied from 27 to 39 days when infesting rabbits. Lisboa et al (1998) reported that A. sculptum larvae feeding on rabbits required three to seven days to engorgement. Prata et al (1996), in a study with A. sculptum nymphs feeding on rabbits, reported a recovery rate of 53.4% for nymphs, an engorgement period of 5 days, and a 95% molting success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle of Amblyomma mixtum (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing different hosts under laboratory conditions

et al. 2017

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Amblyomma mixtum is a tick species in the Amblyomma cajennense complex. The known geographic range of A. mixtum extends from Texas in the USA to western Ecuador and some islands in the Caribbean. Amblyomma mixtum is a vector of disease agents of veterinary and public health importance. The objective of this study was to describe the life cycle of A. mixtum under laboratory conditions. Bovines, rabbits and sheep were infested with larvae, nymphs, and adult ticks under controlled conditions to assess several biological parameters. Eggs, larvae, nymphs and adults were kept in an incubator (27 °C temperature and 80% relative humidity) when they were off the host. The average life cycle of A. mixtum was 88 and 79 days when fed on rabbits and cattle, respectively. Sheep were found to be unsuitable because no ticks attached. The rabbit is a more practical host to maintain a colony of A. mixtum under laboratory conditions. The data from this study can be considered as an example for the life cycle of A. mixtum. However, caution must be exercised when making comparisons to the biology of A. mixtum in its natural habitat.

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“…Furthermore, in the case of A. cajennense and T. equi , intrastadial transmission may increase the efficiency of transmission over that of transstadial transmission by increasing the probability of acquisition fed ticks encountering a susceptible transmission host. Immature A. cajennense have a very broad host range [29] so they are less likely than adults would be to acquisition feed on an infected equine. The host range of adults is much narrower and they are commonly associated with horses, consequently, an adult is more likely to encounter an equine host, and once it has, the gregarious nature of equines [30] makes it more likely that interhost movement would be to another susceptible host.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amblyomma cajennense is an intrastadial biological vector of Theileria equi

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Ueti

2013

Parasites Vectors

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BackgroundThe apicomplexan hemoprotozoan parasite Theileria equi is one of the etiologic agents causing equine piroplasmosis, a disease of equines that is endemic throughout large parts of the world. Before 2009 the United States had been considered to be free of this parasite. Occasional cases had occurred but there was no evidence for endemic vector-borne transmission in the U.S. until a 2009 outbreak in Texas in which Dermacentor variabilis and Amblyomma cajennense were implicated as vectors. Although D. variabilis has previously been shown to be a competent laboratory vector, studies suggested A. cajennense was not a competent transstadial vector, even though the presence of this tick species on horses in South American is epidemiologicaly correlated with higher a prevalence of infection. In this study we tested the transstadial and intrastadial vector competence of D. variabilis and A. cajennense for T. equi.MethodsA tick passaged T. equi strain from the Texas outbreak and ticks colonized from engorged females collected off horses on the outbreak ranch in Texas were used for these studies. Nymph or adult ticks were fed on infected horses and transmission fed on naïve horses. Infections were tracked with PCR and serology, dissected tick tissues were tested with PCR.ResultsA. cajennense transmitted T. equi intrastadially when adult ticks acquired infection by feeding on an infected horse, and transmitted to a naïve host on subsequent reattachment and feeding. D. variabilis failed to transmit in the same experiment. Transstadial transmission was not successful for either tick species. PCR on DNA isolated from eggs of females that had fed on an infected horse suggests that there is no transovarial passage of this parasite by either tick species.ConclusionThis work confirms that ticks from the Texas population of A. cajennense are competent intrastadial vectors of T. equi. We propose that the most likely natural mode of transmission for this parasite/vector combination in the Texas outbreak would have been biological transmission resulting from adult male ticks moving between infected and uninfected horses. The intrastadial mode of transmission should be considered as one equally possible scenario whenever implicating vectors of T. equi.

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Host Specificity of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) (Acari: Ixodidae) with Comments on the Drop-off Rhythm

Cited by 35 publications

References 8 publications

Analysis of large new South African dataset using two host-specificity indices shows generalism in both adult and larval ticks of mammals

Analysis of large new South African dataset using two host-specificity indices shows generalism in both adult and larval ticks of mammals

Life cycle of Amblyomma mixtum (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing different hosts under laboratory conditions

Amblyomma cajennense is an intrastadial biological vector of Theileria equi

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