Differentiation of Rhipicephalus Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) by Gas Chromatography of Cuticular Hydrocarbons

Abstract

Gas chromatography of the cuticular hydrocarbons of 4 species of ticks belonging to the genus Rhipicephalus (R. sanguineus, R. turanicus, R. pusillus, and R. bursa) showed a unique pattern for each taxon. The hydrocarbon fractions were composed of a mixture of straight-chain, terminally methylated, and internally branched alkanes; however, only a small quantity of alkenes was detected. Freshly collected, dried, and alcohol-stored specimens of R. sanguineus were analyzed and their patterns found to be nearly identical. Collection of specimens from separate localities demonstrated a species-specific pattern for Spanish material.

Variability in cuticular hydrocarbons and phenotypic discrimination of Ixodes ricinus populations (Acarina: Ixodidae) from Europe

“…Previous results corroborate the validity of cuticular hydrocarbon analysis as an indirect tool for investigating the genetic relationships between populations of the same tick species, whatever the degree of geographical relationship. The cuticular hydrocarbon pattern has been used for taxonomic purposes (Phillips et al, 1988) in insects, with some reports on ticks (Hunt, 1986;Estrada-Pefia et aL, 1992a. Gas chromatography of surface hydrocarbons has been used for cluster analysis in the Drosophila virilis species group (Bartelt et aL, 1986), the results being in close agreement with the known phylogeny of the group.…”

“…Several papers (Lockey, 1978a(Lockey, ,b, 1988 have demonstrated that the hydrocarbon composition in insects is related to the taxonomic grouping to the extent that hydrocarbon mixtures are species specific and that closely related species tend to have compounds in different proportions. The method has been used for taxonomic studies of several tick species and populations (Estrada-Pefia et aL, 1992a. In a previous paper aimed to ascertain the degree of genetic similarity between sympatric populations of L ricinus from Poland (EstradaPefia et aL, 1994) a very low genetic distance was noted.…”

Mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences and phylogenetic relationships of species of Rhipicephalus and other tick genera among Metastriata (Acari: Ixodidae)

“…In all analyses carried out in this study, R. bursa clustered with Boophilus spp. This ®nding is congruent with the molecular study carried out by Estrada-PenÄ a et al (1992). They analyzed the composition of cuticular hydrocarbons in the four above-mentioned Rhipicephalus species.…”

Cuticular hydrocarbon composition and phenotypic variability in sympatric populations of Ixodes ricinus ticks from Poland

“…Closely related species have qualitatively similar profiles but with hydrocarbons in different proportions, while distantly related species tend to have hydrocarbon mixtures that differ both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our previous reports on RhipicephaIus species in Spain, Estrada-Pefia et al (1992a), and on hybrid ticks in the laboratory, Estrada-Pefia and Dusbfibek (1993) or in nature, Estrada-Pefia et aL (1992b) support the use of this technique for tick systematics or for the analysis of populations . Considerable genetic differentiation in ticks species may be expected because of restricted tick movement and a high potential for inbreeding (Price, 1977).…”

“…vulgaris and A. polonicus, Estrada-Pefia and Dusb~ibek (1993), Amblyomma cajennense, , some Rhipicephatus tick species, Estrada-Pefia et al (1992a) as well as those from several species of Diptera (Carlson and Langley, 1986;Chen et al, 1990;Hoppe et al, 1990). All of these species examined lacked n-alkenes and had a well-defined pattern of straight chain, monomethyl-, and dimethyl-alkanes.…”