ABSTRACT
The soft tick Ornithodoros guaporensis n. sp. (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) is described from larvae and adults. Morphological analysis and 16S rDNA sequences are provided. Adults were collected from a rocky fissure inhabited by bats located in the Amazonian forest in north-eastern Bolivia (Beni Department) close to the Guapord River. Larvae were obtained from eggs laid by females collected in the field, and which were fed on rabbits in the laboratory. Larvae of O. guaporensis are morphologically closely related to Ornithodoros rioplatensis, Ornithodoros puertoricensis and Ornithodoros talaje. Larvae of O. guaporensis and O. rioplatensis can be separated from O. puertoricensis and O. talaje by the number of pairs of dorsal setae (20 in O. guaporensis and O. rioplatensis, 18 in O. puertoricensis and 17 in O. talaje). Larvae of O. guaporensis and O. rioplatensis can be differentiated by the medial dental formula (2/2 in O. guaporensis and 3/3 in O. rioplatensis) and the apex of the hypostome, which is more pointed in O. rioplatensis than in O. guaporensis. The Principal Component Analysis performed with morphometric characters of larvae showed a clear separation among O. guaporensis, O. rioplatensis, O. puertoricensis and O. talaje. Significant morphological differences among adults of these four species were not found. The analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences allowed for the differentiation between O. guaporensis and the remaining Neotropical species of the family Argasidae.
Subject(s)
Argasidae/classification , Animal Structures/anatomy & histology , Animal Structures/growth & development , Animals , Argasidae/anatomy & histology , Argasidae/genetics , Argasidae/growth & development , Body Size , Bolivia , Female , Larva/anatomy & histology , Larva/classification , Larva/genetics , Larva/growth & development , Male , Molecular Sequence Data , Organ Size , Phylogeny , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , Rabbits , Rivers , Tick Infestations/parasitologyABSTRACT
Ornithodoros quilinensis sp. nov. (Acari: Argasidae) is described from larvae collected on the small rodents Graomys centralis (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in Argentina. The diagnostic characters for this new species are a combination of small size (520-540 µm), a dorsal plate oval in shape with a length of approximately 200 µm, 14 pairs of dorsal setae, hypostome short and narrower at the base (length from Ph(1) to apex 133 µm (120-141)) with dental formula 2/2 and apex blunt, and the capsule of the Haller's organ irregular in shape and without reticulations. The analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences available for the genus Ornithodoros indicate that, phylogenetically, O. quilinensis represents an independent lineage only related to a Bolivian tick species of the genus Ornithodoros yet not formally described.
