Description of Adults and Nymph, and Redescription of the Larva, of Ornithodoros marinkellei (Acari: Argasidae), with Data on Its Phylogenetic Position

Abstract

The argasid tick Ornithodoros marinkellei Kohls, Clifford, and Jones, 1969 was described 4 decades ago based on larval specimens collected from bats (Pteronotus spp.) in Colombia and Panama. Thereafter, larval O. marinkellei parasitizing bats were reported from Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. Herein, we describe the adults and nymph, and redescribe the larva of O. marinkellei based on specimens recently collected in the western Brazilian Amazon region. In contrast to all other known adult argasids, the idiosoma of both males and females of O. marinkellei is covered with sclerotized plaques. The idiosoma of the nymph of O. marinkellei is entirely micromamillated, and differs from the adults by the absence of plaques. The larva of O. marinkellei is morphologically similar to the larvae of the 2 other species belonging to the subgenus Subparmatus , i.e., Ornithodoros viguerasi Cooley and Kohls, 1941 and Ornithodoros mormoops Kohls, Clifford, and Jones, 1969 . Because of the long and narrow dorsal plate, the larva of O. marinkellei is readily distinguished from O. viguerasi and O. mormoops. Comparison of our larvae from Brazil with O. marinkellei paratype specimens from Colombia confirmed their taxonomic identification. However, a few morphological differences, particularly in the size of the gnathosoma, were observed. Further studies are necessary to clarify whether O. marinkellei is a complex of different species, or a single species represented by morphologically polymorphic, and geographically distinct populations. Partial mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene sequences were generated for O. marinkellei specimens from Brazil, and compared with available homologous sequences in GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses revealed O. marinkellei to be distinct from the remaining argasid species available in GenBank, including other bat-associated tick species that are found in sympatry with O. marinkellei in the Neotropical region.

Ticks parasitizing bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in the Caatinga Biome, Brazil

“…Although a detailed description of the larvae from both species has not been published, morphological characters of Antricola larvae presented by Cooley & Kohls (1944), and posteriorly by Kohls et al (1965), coincide with the general morphology of the larva found parasitizing P. parnelli in the present study. This host-parasite association is not unexpected since both Antricola and Pteronotus bats live in caves (ESTRADA-PEÑA et al, 2004;GUIMARÃES & FERREIRA, 2014;LABRUNA et al, 2011), and because Antricola larvae have been reported on Pteronotus bats in the Amazon biome (LABRUNA et al, 2011).…”

“…This soft tick was described from free-living specimens from caves in the Caatinga biome, and from bat-associated larvae in the Cerrado Biome of central-western Brazil (DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2012 In Brazil, O. marinkellei was previously reported in caves from eastern (LABRUNA et al, 2011) and western (HENRIQUE-SIMÕES et al, 2012) Amazonian biome, in association with three bat species of the genus Pteronotus (LABRUNA et al, 2011). In this way it is not surprising that in the current study larval stages of this tick (KOHLS et al, 1969;JONES & CLIFFORD, 1972;VENZAL et al, 2006).…”

“…One fully engorged larva of Nothoaspis amazoniensis Nava, Venzal & Labruna 2010 was identified by the following combination of characters: dorsal plate elongate and triangular; dorsum with 12-13 setae pairs (5-6 anterolateral, 3 central, and 4 posterolateral); venter with 10 pairs of setae; posteromedian setae absent; 3 pairs of sternal setae; 1 pair of post-coxal setae; 5 pairs of circumanal setae; 1 pair of ventral posteromarginal setae and basis capituli pentagonal, following Nava et al (2010) (Figure 2). dorsal plate pyriform, 15 pairs of dorsolateral setae and 4 pairs of central setae; hypostome apically pointed with 3 rows of denticles (17-19 denticles in row I; 16-17 in row II, and 11-12 in row III); dentition formula 3/3 in the anterior two-thirds and 2/2 towards the base; hypostome arising from a triangular median extension (KOHLS et al, 1965); 4) O. marinkellei: dorsal plate long and narrow, triangular, surface smooth, posterior margin slightly concave; dorsum with 13 pairs of setae, 7 anterolateral, 3 central, and 3 posterolateral, 3 first anterolateral setae short and thick; venter with 8 pairs of setae plus pair on anal valves; posteromedian setae absent; hypostome with dental formula 2/2 throughout length, file 1 with 21 denticles and file 2 with 20-21 denticles, additional denticles around apex, apex pointed, presence of two cornua-like projections in the posterior margin of basis capitulum (LABRUNA et al, 2011) (Figures 1, 2). In addition, morphological identifications of 20 larvae were confirmed by molecular analyses.…”

“…This region includes areas of semi-deciduous and cloud forests, and presents low rainfall and humidity regimes (COSTA et al, 2004). While ticks are associated with bats in other Brazilian biomes (LABRUNA & VENZAL 2009;LABRUNA et al, 2011;MUÑOZ-LEAL et al, 2016b), to date documented reports of ectoparasites on bats from the Caatinga Biome include only streblid flies (Diptera: Streblidae) (RIOS et al, 2008;BEZERRA et al, 2016) and spinturnicid mites (Acari: Spinturnicidae) (ALMEIDA et al, 2016). In this study we introduce the diversity of ticks parasitizing bats in the Caatinga biome, providing new records of hosts and localities for this understudied group of parasites.…”

“…While in Brazil Argasidae is represented by 24 species belonging to Antricola, Argas, Nothoaspis, and Ornithodoros genera, at least 19 species belong to the genus Ornithodoros: Ornithodoros brasiliensis Aragão, 1923;Ornithodoros capensis Neumann, 1901; Ornithodoros fonsecai (Labruna & Venzal, 2009); Ornithodoros guaporensis Nava, Venzal & Labruna, 2013; Ornithodoros hasei (Schulze, 1935); Ornithodoros jul Schulze, 1940; Ornithodoros kohlsi (Guglielmone & Keirans, 2002); Ornithodoros marinkellei Kohls, Clifford & Jones, 1969; Ornithodoros mimon Kohls, Clifford & Jones, 1969;Ornithodoros nattereri Warburton, 1927; Ornithodoros rondoniensis (Labruna, Terrassini, Camargo, Brandão, Ribeiro & Estrada-Peña, 2008); Ornithodoros rostratus Aragão, 1911; Ornithodoros rudis Karsh, 1880; Ornithodoros setosus Kohls, Clifford & Jones, 1969; Ornithodoros stageri Cooley & Kohls, 1941; Ornithodoros talaje (Guérin-Méneville, 1849); Ornithodoros faccinii Barros-Battesti, Landulfo & Luz, 2015; Ornithodoros cavernicolous Dantas-Torres, Venzal & Labruna, 2012 and Ornithodoros rietcorreai Labruna, Nava & Venzal, 2016(GUGLIELMONE et al, 2010DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2012;BARROS-BATTESTI et al, 2013WOLF et al, 2016;LABRUNA et al, 2016). Of this diversity, nine species (47%) have been associated with bats or bat-frequented caves (LABRUNA & VENZAL, 2009;LABRUNA et al, 2011;DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2012;BARROS-BATTESTI et al, 2013;MARTINS et al, 2014;MUÑOZ-LEAL et al, 2016b).…”