Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
Background: In Europe two ixodid bat tick species, Ixodes vespertilionis and I. simplex were hitherto known to occur.
Methods: Bat ticks were collected from cave walls and bats in Hungary. Their morphology and genotypes were compared with microscopy and conventional PCR (followed by sequencing), respectively.
Results: A year-round activity of I. vespertilionis was observed. Molecular analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of twenty ticks from different caves showed that the occurrence of the most common genotype was associated with the caves close to each other. A few specimens of a morphologically different tick variant were also found and their COI analysis revealed only 86-88% sequence homology with I. simplex and I. vespertilionis, respectively.
Conclusions: The microenvironment of caves (well separated from each other) appears to support the existence of allopatric I. vespertilionis COI genotypes, most likely related to the distance between caves and to bat migration over-bridging certain caves. The name I. ariadnae sp. nov. is given to the new tick species described here for the first time.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029976 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-202 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
The Role of Hematophagous Arthropods, Other than Mosquitoes and Ticks, in Arbovirus Transmission.
Viruses
June 2025
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, 2116 Veterinary Medicine, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) significantly impact human, domestic animal, and wildlife health. While most arboviruses are transmitted to vertebrate hosts by blood-feeding mosquitoes and ticks, a growing body of evidence highlights the importance of other hematophagous arthropods in arboviral transmission. These lesser-known vectors, while often overlooked, can play crucial roles in the maintenance, amplification, and spread of arboviruses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiversity and seasonality of ectoparasite burden on two species of Madagascar fruit bat, Eidolon dupreanum and Rousettus madagascariensis.
Parasit Vectors
July 2025
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Background: Bats are important reservoir hosts for a variety of pathogens, some of which are transmitted by ectoparasite vectors including mites, fleas, lice, ticks, and bat flies (families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae). All these ectoparasite taxa are known to parasitize two endemic fruit bats of Madagascar, Eidolon dupreanum and Rousettus madagascariensis. We aimed to describe the diversity of ectoparasite infestation for both bat species through morphological observation and DNA barcoding and elucidate ecological and climatic correlates of seasonal nycteribiid parasitism of these hosts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIxodid ticks of Western Palearctic bats: ecology, host-parasite relationships, geographic distribution and zoonotic importance.
Front Vet Sci
June 2025
HUN-REN-UVMB Climate Change: New Blood-Sucking Parasites and Vector-Borne Pathogens Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
Bats in the Western Palearctic are host for diverse array of ectoparasites, including three ixodid ticks (, , and ), which are highly specialized to parasitize these mammals. In this study we collected and analyzed 3,965 host-tick records across 31 bat species from published literature, online sources, and unpublished field data. Individual bat-specialist ticks showed distinct host preferences, with cave-dwelling bats accounting for over 90% of all records.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonitoring of Bartonella spp. in Iberian bats from Spain.
Vet Microbiol
August 2025
SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real, Spain. Electronic address:
Chiroptera play a key role in the environment by providing pivotal ecosystem services. However, bats can be hosts of several zoonotic pathogens, including bacteria belonging to the Bartonella genus. This molecular study aimed to fill the notable lack of information concerning Bartonella spp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecular surveillance of bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) and other ectoparasites in Ratchaburi, Thailand: Unraveling host associations and coronavirus transmission dynamics in the context of zoonotic spillover risk.
J Infect Public Health
July 2025
Center of Excellence in Vector Biology and Vector Borne Diseases, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Electronic address:
Background: Bats act as hosts for various ectoparasites, including bat flies, bugs, fleas, ticks, and mites, which play crucial roles in the transmission of bat-borne pathogens. As obligate blood-feeding parasites, these ectoparasites can serve as direct vectors or indirectly influence pathogen dynamics in bat populations. In Thailand, molecular studies on bat ectoparasites are limited, with scarce data on their diversity, distribution, and role in zoonotic pathogen transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF