First report of immature stages of Ixodes bocatorensis (Ixodida: Ixodidae) on small mammals in the Maracanã Environmental Protection Area, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil.

Abstract

Research into ticks that feed on small mammals is important because they can be vectors of pathogenic bioagents that infect animals and humans. In this study, small mammals were captured in the Maracanã Environmental Protection Area, in the eastern Amazon biome (São Luís, Maranhão), and were visually inspected to detect the presence of ectoparasites. Overall, 10 (48%) out of 21 small mammals were infested by ticks, as follows: three Didelphis marsupialis (30 Amblyomma sp. larvae, and 2 Ixodes sp. nymphs); three Monodelphis domestica (three Ixodes sp. nymphs) and four Dasyprocta sp. rodents (three Amblyomma sp. larvae, three Ixodes sp. nymphs and 16 Ixodes sp. larvae), making a total of 57 tick specimens. Two of the collected nymphs were molecularly identified as Ixodes bocatorensis, based on mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene partial sequences. Since all eight Ixodes sp. nymphs collected in this study presented the same morphotype, the molecular identification of two specimens as I. bocatorensis supports the identification of all collected nymphs as belonging to this same tick species. This study provides host records for immature stages of I. bocatorensis for the first time. Additionally, a brief morphological description of the I. bocatorensis nymph is provided.