Abstract
Two new species of the genus Ornithodoros were described from larvae collected in Argentina and Chile. Ornithodoros xerophylus n. sp. was described from specimens collected on the small rodent Graomys centralis in Argentina. The diagnostic characters for this species are a combination of dorsal plate slightly oval with a length of approximately 250 µm, 16 pairs of dorsal setae, hypostome with apex rounded and dental formula 2/2 in most rows, 3/3 apically, and capsule of the Haller’s organ oval in shape without reticulations. Larvae of Ornithodoros lahillei n. sp. were collected on the reptiles Philodryas chamissonis and Callopistes maculatus in Chile. The diagnostic characters for O. lahillei are a combination of dorsal plate subtriangular with margins corrugated and posterior margin convex, dorsal surface with 14 pairs of setae, absence of postcoxal setae, and hypostome with apex pointed and dental formula 3/3 in anterior third and 2/2 in the middle and basal portion. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences and a Principal Component Analysis based on morphometric characters provided additional support to the description of O. lahillei and O. xerophylus as two independent lineages within the genus Ornithodoros.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the financial support to Proyect Fondecyt 1100695 and 1130948 “Native Ticks (Ixodidea) of Northern Chile: Biogeography and biological cycles” to DGA and SML, and INTA, Asociación Cooperadora EEA-INTA Rafaela and CONICET to SN and AJM.
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Venzal, J.M., González-Acuña, D., Muñoz-Leal, S. et al. Two new species of Ornithodoros (Ixodida; Argasidae) from the Southern Cone of South America. Exp Appl Acarol 66, 127–139 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-015-9883-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-015-9883-6