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Amblyomma parvitarsum (Acari: Ixodidae): localities, hosts and host-parasite ecology

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Abstract

Only a few aspects of the biology of Amblyomma parvitarsum Neumann are known. Adults of this hard tick species are parasites of South American camelids in the Andean plateau of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Chile and also in the Argentine Patagonia, but they have been also rarely found on other artyodactils and two species of birds. The larva has been collected from reptiles in northern Chile, whereas the hosts for the nymph remain unknown. On nine localities included within Altitude Tropical and Perarid Mediterranean ecoregions in northern Chile, we analyzed 237 reptiles, 285 birds, 624 rodents and 52 camelids for infestation with A. parvitarsum to calculate seasonal prevalence of this tick. We also reviewed the literature of this tick and three entomological collections for obtaining and summarizing all the information to date about this tick. None of the analyzed birds and rodents were parasitized with A. parvitarsum; however, seven over a total of ten reptile species that we caught were infested with the larva. In the camelid species Lama glama and Vicugna pacos we collected adult specimens of this tick. Larval prevalence was higher during fall (75 %) in Liolaemus pleopholis in the Altitude Tropical ecoregion. We also collected adult specimens of A. parvitarsum from camelid manure heaps during summer in Salar de Surire and Llullaillaco localities. Additionally, we also reviewed the literature of this tick and examined specimens in three entomological collections for obtaining and summarizing all the information to date about this tick. By this study, nine localities and seven new hosts are added for A. parvitarsum and we confirm reptiles as specific hosts of this tick larva.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank the Servicio Agrícola and Ganadero for giving capture authorizations for reptiles, birds and rodents and to the Corporación Nacional Forestal for graciously providing its facilities in different visited protected areas in Chile. To Atilio J. Mangold and Santiago Nava of INTA Rafaela (Argentina) and Ignacio Ruiz for providing us unpublished records of A. parvitarsum in Argentina. To Wilfredo Briones for providing data of parasitized reptiles in northern Chile and to Rolando Manzano who generously provided us with tick specimens. Moreover, special thanks to Pablo Olmedo, Braulio Muñoz, Iván Torres, Nicolás Fernández, Daniela Doussang, Gonzalo Torres, Cecilia Figueroa, Consuelo Manosalva, Carolina Silva, Karolina Araya, Dani Fuentes, Nicolás Martin, Karen Ardiles, Lucila Moreno and Salomón Moyano for their valuable assistance during field work. This study was funded by the FONDECYT Project No. 1100695.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Pecuarias, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Méndez 595, CP 3780000, Chillán (Biobío), Chile

    Sebastián Muñoz-Leal & Daniel González-Acuña

  2. Sección de Invertebrados, Colección Boliviana de Fauna, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural-Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Casilla 8706, La Paz, Bolivia

    L. Fabián Beltrán-Saavedra & Juan M. Limachi

  3. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, CC 22, CP 2300, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Alberto A. Guglielmone

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  1. Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
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  2. Daniel González-Acuña
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  3. L. Fabián Beltrán-Saavedra
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  4. Juan M. Limachi
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  5. Alberto A. Guglielmone
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Correspondence to Daniel González-Acuña.

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Muñoz-Leal, S., González-Acuña, D., Beltrán-Saavedra, L.F. et al. Amblyomma parvitarsum (Acari: Ixodidae): localities, hosts and host-parasite ecology. Exp Appl Acarol 62, 91–104 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9725-3

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