Ticks on birds in a savanna (Cerrado) reserve on the outskirts of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

We report tick infestations on birds, in the environment and on domestic animals in a non-forested phytophysiognomy, the savanna-like Cerrado sensu stricto, in a natural reserve on the outskirts of the urban area of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Overall, 238 birds within 50 species, 15 families and six orders were caught. Passeriformes were the most numerous, with 216 birds (90.75%), among which 22 had ticks (n = 31). Within this order, the prevalence of tick infestation was 10.2%, and the abundance and mean intensity were 0.14 and 1.41, respectively. Only immature ticks of the species Amblyomma nodosum were found on the birds. The tick species found both on animals (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Amblyomma cajennense and Dermacentor nitens) and in the environment (Amblyomma dubitatum, Rhipicephalus (B.) microplus and Amblyomma cajennense) were as expected. This difference in tick species between the environment and birds possibly occurred because the sampling of the environment was limited to the ground. This study also highlights the importance of the diverse microenvironments used by ticks and hosts in the same area and the complex ecology of bird-tick relationships. Ecological and epidemiological aspects of the findings are discussed.Keywords: Bird, cerrado, tick, passeriformes, ecology. ResumoNesse trabalho relatam-se infestações de carrapatos em aves, meio ambiente e em animais domésticos em uma fitofisionomia não florestal, o Cerrado stricto sensu, de uma reserva natural na periferia da área urbana de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Para tal, 238 aves de 50 espécies foram capturadas, pertencentes a 15 famílias e seis ordens. Passeriforme foi a mais numerosa, com 216 indivíduos (90,75%), dos quais 22 estavam parasitados com 31 carrapatos. Nos Passeriformes a prevalência de infestação de carrapatos foi de 10,2%, a abundância e intensidade média foi de 0,14 e 1,41, respectivamente. Apenas carrapatos imaturos da espécie Amblyomma nodosum foram encontrados em aves. As espécies de carrapatos encontradas tanto em animais (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Amblyomma cajennense, Dermacentor nitens) como no ambiente (Amblyomma dubitatum, Rhipicephalus (B.) microplus, Amblyomma cajennense) foram aquelas já esperadas. Esta diferença de espécies de carrapatos entre ambiente e de aves possivelmente ocorreu porque a amostragem do ambiente se restringiu ao solo. Esse estudo também destaca a importância dos diversos microambientes usados por carrapatos e hospedeiros em uma mesma área e a complexa ecologia das relações ave-carrapato. Aspectos ecológicos e epidemiológicos dos achados são discutidos.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) as ectoparasites of Brazilian wild birds and their association with rickettsial diseases

“…The adults of this species are commonly found in the anteaters (Xenarthra, Pilosa) (ARAGÃO, 1936;JONES et al, 1972;BECHARA et al, 2002;LABRUNA et al, 2002a;DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2010;MARTINS et al, 2014a). Subadults, especially nymphs, seem to feed primarily on birds (JONES et al, 1972;LABRUNA et al, 2007a;OGRZEWALSKA et al, 2009aOGRZEWALSKA et al, , 2011aOGRZEWALSKA et al, , 2012aTOLESANO-PASCOLI et al, 2010;LUZ et al, 2012;MARTINS et al, 2013;PASCOAL et al, 2013;TORGA et al, 2013;LUGARINI et al, 2015;NOVAKOVA et al, 2015;RAMOS et al, 2015;WITTER et al, 2016 SABATINI et al, 2010;SZABÓ et al, 2013a, b).…”

<p><strong>Ticks of the genus <em>Amblyomma</em> (Acari: Ixodidae) on wild birds in the Brazilian Amazon</strong></p>

“…For the most part, however, studies have reported the occurrence of immature stages (larvae and nymphs) of Amblyomma spp. on wild birds that were captured in different areas of the Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes (Marini et al 1996, Neves et al 2000, Storni et al 2005, Labruna et al 2007, Ogrzewalska et al 2008, 2011b, Tolesano-Pascoli et al 2010, Santolin et al 2012, Pacheco et al 2012, Amaral et al 2013, Pascoal et al 2013, Sanches et al 2013, Torga et al 2013. Within the Amazon biome, only a single Brazilian study, in the State of Pará, has systematically evaluated wild birds for ticks .…”

Complementary data on four methods for sampling free-living ticks in the Brazilian Pantanal

“…In these studies, dragging was the method most used for tick collection, followed by CO 2 traps (SZABÓ et al, 2007;CANÇADO et al, 2008;OGRZEWALSKA et al, 2009;TOLESANO-PASCOLI et al, 2010;VERONEZ et al, 2010;GARCIA et al, 2013;PASCOAL et al, 2013) and, more recently, visual searching in forest environments (LABRUNA et al, 2005;SILVA et al, 2008;SZABÓ et al, 2009). Few evaluations of tick sampling methods in Brazil have been made (TERASSINI et al, 2010;GUEDES et al, 2012).…”