Description of a New Pavlovskyella Species (Acari: Argasidae) From Chile

Authors

Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
José M Venzal
Alexander R Kneubehl
Job E Lopez
Thiago F Martins
Marcelo B Labruna

Publication Date

9-12-2023

Journal

Journal of Medical Entomology

DOI

10.1093/jme/tjad091

PMID

37455018

PMCID

PMC10496437

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

7-17-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Female, Male, Animals, Argasidae, Acari, Chile, Phylogeny, Ornithodoros, Argasidae, soft tick, mitogenome, phylogeny, new species

Abstract

Soft ticks (Argasidae) of the Pavlovskyella Pospelova-Shtrom subgenus are important vectors of relapsing fever spirochetes, which are agents of disease globally. South American representatives of the Pavlovskyella subgenus include 3 species: Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) brasiliensis Aragão, Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) furcosus Neumann, and Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) rostratus Aragão. Here, we describe a fourth species based on morphological and mitogenomic evidence of ticks collected in burrows of unknown hosts in central Chile. The larva of the new species separates from other South American soft ticks by the following combination of characters: 13 pairs of dorsolateral setae, dorsal plate hexagonal, hypostome blunt with denticles from apex almost to the base. Adults of this new species lack cheeks, possess a dorsoventral groove, and have humps, similar to O. (P.) brasiliensis; however, they lack bulging structures on the flanks of idiosoma. Moreover, females and males differ from O. (P.) rostratus by having 3 humps instead of spurs in tarsi I and from O. (P.) furcosus because of their smaller size and thinner anterior lip of the genital aperture in females. The phylogenetic analysis performed with mitogenomes of the Argasidae family depicts the new Pavlovskyella species from Chile in a monophyletic clade with other South American species in the subgenus, confirming a regional group.