Ixodes downsi Kohls, 1957 in Venezuela

DANIEL GONZÁLEZ-ACUÑA, SANTIAGO NAVA, ATILIO J. MANGOLD, ALBERTO A. GUGLIELMONE

Systematic And Applied Acarology

Año: 2008 vol. 13 p. 39 - 42

1362-1971

Three females and three nymphs of Ixodes downsi Kohls, 1957 were collected in guano deposited in GuácharosCave, State of Monagas, Venezuela. The cave is inhabited by bats and oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis Humboldt)and is frequented by carnivores. Previous records of this tick are from Trinidad & Tobago and Peru, and it isunclear whether the principal hosts are Chiroptera or Aves. The present record of I. downsi in Venezuela doesnot provide new host data but expands this tick’s known range, which is probably greater than collectionsindicate. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S mitochondrial rDNA sequences of Ixodes species from theNeotropical Zoogeographic Region, plus two Australian Ixodes and three argasids, were conducted to clarifythe systematic position of I. downsi. The analyses showed an unexpected relationship with I. (Multidentatus)auritulus Neumann, 1904. However, as with other Neotropical Ixodes, the subgeneric status of I. downsiremains undetermined.