A first record of Amblyomma dissimile (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing the lizard Ameiva ameiva (Teiidae) in Brazil

Abstract

A non-engorged adult female Amblyomma dissimile and two Amblyomma sp. larvae were found parasitizing the lizard Ameiva ameiva in the municipality of Chapadinha, State of Maranhão. This is the first record in the state of Maranhão and fills a gap in the distribution of A. dissimile in Brazil. The lizard A. ameiva represents a new host for A. dissimile, and also the first record of this tick species infesting lizards of the family Teiidae in Brazil.Keywords: Amblyomma dissimile, tick, Teiidae, Ameiva ameiva, Brazil. Amblyomma dissimile Koch 1844 is an ectoparasite commonly found on amphibians and reptiles. This parasite is widely distributed across several countries in the Americas, including some states in Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Roraima, Pernambuco, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, and São Paulo) (ARAGÃO, 1936;SCHUMAKER;BARROS, 1994;ONOFRIO, 2007;DANTAS-TORRES et al., 2008). Records of natural tick infestation of lizards in Brazil are rare because most published reports available in the literature on parasitism focus on either snakes or on laboratory experiments (SCHUMAKER; BARROS, 1994;FREITAS et al., 2004). At present, only two species of lizards have been reported to be infested by A. dissimile in Brazil, namely, adults from Iguana iguana (FREITAS et al., 2004) and nymphs from Tropidurus hispidus (DANTAS-TORRES et al., 2008). ResumoThe teiid lizard Ameiva ameiva is widely distributed in the Neotropics, occurring from Panama to central Brazil (SCHWARTZ; HENDERSON, 1991 apud SARTORIUS et al., 1999. This species of lizard inhabits areas ranging from the Amazonian rain forest to the savanna of Cerrado and the semi-arid region of Caatinga (VITT; COLLI, 1994). Even as a medium-sized lizard, it has fast movements and is an active forager that feeds on a variety of arthropods and vertebrates (VITT; COLLI, 1994). The objective of this study is to report the occurrence of A. dissimile parasitizing the lizard A. ameiva in the state of Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil.A specimen of A. ameiva was collected in an area of Cerrado belonging to the Universidade Federal do Maranhão (05° 44' S and 43° 10' W) in the municipality of Chapadinha, Maranhão. The lizard was visually examined for the presence of ectoparasites (Figure 1a). An engorged adult female tick and two larvae were found, collected manually and preserved in identified bottles containing 70% ethanol. The ticks were analyzed and identified with the aid of a stereomicroscope and according to the dichotomous keys of Aragão e Fonseca (1961) and Onofrio et al. (2006). The adult tick was identified as A. dissimile (Figure 1b) and the two larvae as Amblyomma sp.Most of the studies on infestations of reptiles in Brazil concern the Amblyomma rotundatum, another parasite of "cold-blooded" animals that is well established in the country (ONOFRIO et al., 2006). This tick has been reported to be a parasite of A. ameiva (ONOFRIO, 2007), but data about the location were not reported. According to Pontes et al. (2009), data on A. dissimile ISSN 0103-846X (impresso) / ...

Checklist of parasites associated with ʻreptiles’ in Northeast Brazil

“…References: (1) Lopes et al (2010), (2, 3, 20) Dantas-Torres et al (2010); (4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) Alcantara et al (2018b); (8) Dantas-Torres et al (2008), (9) Santana et al (2017)…”

New host records for Amblyomma rotundatum (Acari: Ixodidae) from Grussaí restinga, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…In Brazil, except for the broad study by Pontes et al (2009) involving ticks associated with a community of snakes in the Atlantic Forest, most studies have been limited to recording parasitism of reptiles by ticks in random samples, usually restricted to a few individual specimens (LABRUNA et al, 2002(LABRUNA et al, , 2005DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2005MARTINS et al, 2007;LOPES et al, 2010), studies involving captive hosts (see review in GUGLIELMONE; NAVA, 2010), or characterization of the life cycle of ticks Amblyomma dissimile or A. rotundatum under experimental conditions (ARAGÃO, 1912;OBA;SCHUMAKER 1983;FREITAS et al, 2004;RODRIGUES et al, 2010).…”