Bat ectoparasites: chigger mites (Trombiculidae), ticks (Ixodidae and Argasidae), and bugs (Cimicidae) in the Eastern Palaearctic

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 123; no. 1; p. 83
• Main Authors: Kazakov, Denis V., Khasnatinov, Maxim A., Antonovskaia, Anastasia A., Gorobeyko, Uliana V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-01-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Argasidae; Bats; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cimex; Cimicidae; Ectoparasites; Immunology; Ixodes; Ixodidae; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; New species; Phylogeny; rRNA 16S; Trombiculidae; Kazakhstan; Siberia; Russia; Bat ectoparasites; Eastern Palaearctic; Trombiculidae; Argas; Ixodes; Cimex
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-023-08093-x

Nine species-level taxa of bat ectoparasites, three chigger mites (Trombiculidae), three hard (Ixodidae), and one soft tick (Argasidae) species, as well as two bug (Cimicidae) species from nine bat species hosts were detected in the Eastern Palaearctic. Trombiculid larvae of
Leptotrombidium schlugerae
,
Leptotrombidium album,
and
Ascoschoengastia latyshevi
were first recorded on bats in the temperate zone of eastern Russia.
L. schlugerae
was more abundant than
A. latyshevi
in the same study sites in Eastern Siberia, and the main hosts of both chigger species were
Plecotus ognevi
and
Eptesicus nilssonii
. Ixodid ticks
Dermacentor marginatus
,
Ixodes simplex,
and
Ixodes
sp. were sampled from bats in Kazakhstan, the Far East, and Eastern Siberia, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on
Cox
1, 16S rDNA, and ITS2 sequences of
I. simplex
showed that the specimens from the Far East grouped into a clade distributed in the Eastern Palaearctic and India. In turn, the specimen of
Ixodes
sp. from Eastern Siberia was most closely related to
Ixodes soricis
and
Ixodes angustus
with
p
-distance of 9.8–10.7% (
Cox
1), suggesting that this tick probably belongs to a new species.
Argas vespertilionis
larvae were collected from three widespread bat species in Kazakhstan. Two bug species,
Cimex pipistrelli
and
Cimex
aff.
lectularius
, were recorded in the Far East and Eastern Siberia, respectively. Specimens from Transbaikalia were morphologically identified as
Cimex lectularius
. However, they differed from the latter by 12.5–12.9% of
Cox
1 sequences, indicating that
C.
aff.
lectularius
may be a new species.