ABSTRACT
The ixodid Amblyomma aureolatum is suspected to play a role in the epidemiology of wild life-cycle hemoparasites, which frequently infect dogs in rural and hunting areas in Brazil. Little is known about its bionomics. The objective of the present study was to evaluate some bionomic aspects of A. aureolatum ticks in Brazil. One engorged female, collected from a dog (Canis familiaris) in Säo Sebastiäo das Aguas Claras, State of Minas Gerais, was used to establish a colony in the laboratory. Subsequently its parasitic stage progeny were fed on domestic dogs and laboratory animals. The free-living stages were incubated at 27ºC ± 2°C and minimum 70 percent relative humidity in a BOD incubator. The egg incubation period ranged from 31 to 34 days; the parasitic period of larvae ranged from 4 to 6 days and ecdysis to nymphs occurred from day 19 up to day 22. The parasitic period of nymphs ranged from 5 to 8 days and the period of ecdysis to adults from 31 to 33 days. The parasitic period of adults ranged from 11 to 15 days, the pre-oviposition period from 6 to 12 days, and the oviposition period from 9 to 38 days. The total duration of the life cycle ranged from 116 to 168 days
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Female , Dogs , Ecology , Ixodidae/growth & development , Life Cycle Stages , Brazil , Host-Parasite InteractionsABSTRACT
The parasitic specificity of larval, nymph and adult Amblyomma cajennense on six different host species: Oryctolagus cuniculus, Rattus norvegicus, Gallus gallus domesticus, Anas platyrhynchus, Coturnix coturnix and Streptopelia decorata is described. In terms of the numbers of larvae and nymphs recovered, O. cuniculus was the best host species. The modal day for drop-off of lavae and nymphs was day three for the mammal hosts, but variable in the birds. We conclude that adult A. cajennense have a strong degree of specificity due to the fact that the tick failed to complete its cycle on any of the evaluated hosts. The immature stages, on the other hand, showed a low level of specificity, most specially in the larval stage, indicating the existence of secondary hosts which probably serve as dispersers in the wild. The results also indicated a variable drop-off rhythm for larvae and numphs in two periods, diurnal (6-18 hr) and nocturnal (18-6 hr), which differed depending upon the host.