Parasitism rates of Lipoptena guimaraesi and a new record of Lipoptena mazamae on Ozotoceros bezoarticus from the Central Pantanal wetlands in Brazil

Abstract

From May to October of 2006 we collected 143 louse flies of the genus Lipoptena on the body surface of 16 pampas deer Ozotocerus bezoarticus captured in four farms from the central area of the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands. We also examined 172 cattle individuals and none of them had louse flies. Most of the parasites identified were Lipoptena guimaraesi but one specimen of L. mazamae was also found, representing a new host record for this ked fly. The prevalence of L. guimaraesi was 93.8%, the mean intensity of infestation was 9.5, and the index of discrepancy was 0.444.

Occurrence of Lipoptena mazama and Lipoptena guimaraesi (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) on gray brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) in southern Brazil

“…Lipoptena parasitizing deer Therefore, most specimens were identified as L. mazamae, which have been previously reported to parasitize several deer species, including species from the genus Mazama, which occurs in the Paraná state (Graciolli & Carvalho, 2003). However, this is the first record of L. guimaraesi on a Mazama deer, since this specie of ectoparasite was recorded only on O. bezoarticus from Brazil and Uruguay (Bequaert, 1954;Graciolli & Carvalho, 2003;Graciolli et al, 2011). It is important to emphasize that parasitism by this arthropod causes direct damage to the host, and there is an increasing concerning on its potential as a vector of pathogenic and zoonotic agents due to its hematophagy (Böse & Petersen, 1991;Bezerra-Santos & Otranto, 2020).…”

“…is widely reported on neotropical deer and the most common species found in Brazil are Lipoptena mazamae (Rondani, 1878) and Lipoptena guimaraesi (Bequaert, 1957) (Souza et al, 2017), which have been reported in the states of Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. To date, L. guimaraesi (Bequaert, 1957) has been exclusively found on deer of the species Ozotoceros bezoarticus (L.,1758) (pampas deer), while the hosts of L. mazamae include Mazama gouazoubira (Fischer,1814) (gray brocket), M. americana (Erxleben, 1777) (red brocket), and Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann, 1780) (white-tailed deer) in addition to O. bezoarticus (Graciolli & Carvalho, 2003;Graciolli et al, 2011).…”

Detection of Candidatus Bartonella odocoilei n. sp. in Lipoptena mazamae associated with white‐tailed deer in Campeche, Mexico

“…Additionally, vertical transmission of Bartonella sp., from deer ked females to their offspring has been documented, a characteristic that may favour its role as a vector of disease agents (De Bruin et al ., 2015). From a zoonotic and morphological point of view, these flies are of important relevance as blood‐sucking parasites that should be investigated, since knowledge about this species is scarce and it represents a neglected group of ectoparasites in Mexico (Dehio et al ., 2004; Petersen et al ., 2007; Graciolli et al ., 2011). For that reason, the aim of this study was to perform the morphological and molecular identification of L. mazamae and the detection of the genus Bartonella in specimens collected in Campeche, Mexico.…”

“…The neotropical deer ked Lipoptena mazamae , also called ked fly, louse fly, or deer ked, is a blood‐feeding obligate ectoparasite of cervids (Artiodactyla: Cervidae), such as deer ( Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann, Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque, Ozotoceros bezoarticus Linnaeus) and brocket ( Mazama Rafinesque) (Maa, 1969a; Graciolli et al ., 2011) although it has been reported as an accidental ectoparasite of cattle ( Bos taurus Linnaeus), puma ( Puma concolor coryi Linnaeus) and humans ( Homo sapiens Linnaeus), mainly in the U.S.A. (Drummond, 1966; Forrestes et al ., 1996; Skvarla & Machtinger, 2019).…”

“…Lipoptena mazamae is a dorsoventrally flattened winged insect, which loses them when it finds a susceptible host, where it spends its whole life feeding and reproducing in the fur of the same host (Petersen et al ., 2007; Graciolli et al ., 2011). The ked fly exhibits a wide distribution that goes from Canada to Argentina, the U.S.A. and Brazil being the countries with the highest number of records (Bequaert, 1942; Maa, 1969b; Graciolli et al ., 2011). In Mexico, there are historical records of L. mazamae in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacan, Nayarit, Veracruz, and Yucatan (Bequaert, 1942; Guimarães, 1968; Maa, 1969b).…”