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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 89, Num. 1, 1994, pp. 129
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, 
Vol. 89(1): 129, jan./mar. 1994

RESEARCH NOTE

Noteworthy Records of Ixodes auritulus Neumann, 1904 (Acari, Ixodida) on Birds from Parana, Southern Brazil

Marcia Arzua, Darci Moraes Barros, Pedro Marcos Linardi*,

Jose Ramiro Botelho*

Setor de Parasitologia, Museu de Historia Natural "Capao da Imbuia" (DMHN da Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente, Prefeitura Municipal de Curitiba, PR), Rua Benedito Conceicao 407, 82810-080 Curitiba, PR, Brasil *Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biomedicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 21486, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil

This work was supported in part by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico.

Received 4 May 1993, Accepted 22 December 1993


Code Number: OC94026
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Key words: Ixodes auritulus - Parana

The genus Ixodes Latreille (Acari, Ixodida) includes about 231 species distributed in 14 subgenera worldwide (C Clifford et al. 1973 An Ent Soc Am 66: 489-500). Some species can parasite birds or mammals in their different stages, others have been found only on mammals, mainly in their nymphal and adult phases (H Aragao 1936 Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 31: 759-843, R Cooley & G Kohls 1945 Nat Inst Hth Bull 184: 1-246). Many Ixodes species are associated with paralyse promotion or pathogenic agent transmission to several animals (A Kocan 1988 Jama 192: 1498-1500, J Butler & H Denmark 1990 Ent Circ 326, F-F Matuschka & A Spielman 1992 Ex Parasitol 74: 151-158).

In Brazil, nine species of Ixodes are known: I. amarali Fonseca, I. aragaoi Fonseca, I. cooleyi Aragao & Fonseca, I. coxaefurcatus Neumann, I. didelphidis Aragao & Fonseca, I. fuscipes Koch, I. loricatus Neumann, I. luciae Sennevet, and I. schulzei Aragao & Fonseca (H Aragao & F Fonseca 1961 Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 59: 115-129).

During bird banding in the municipality of Curitiba, next to the Passauna River, in an Araucaria forest (Araucaria angustifolia) from March to May 1992, autumn months, three specimens of Turdus rufiventris and one specimen of T. albicollis were captured and examined for ectoparasites. Four ticks specimens were found. They were removed from the hosts and were preserved in Oudeman's fluid, according to G Krantz (1978 2nd ed. Oregon State University Book Stores, Oregon, 509 pp). The ticks were identified as I. auritulus using criteria proposed by M Mendes-Arocha and I Ortiz (1958 Mem C Nat La Salle 51: 196-208). The specimens, two females (F) and two nymphs (N) were deposited in the Parasitological Collection of the Museum of Natural History "Capao da Imbuia" (MHNCI 92, 93-F; MHNCI 93, 94-N).

Although I. auritulus is common ectoparasite of birds, including sea birds (Clifford loc. cit.), it has been also observed on mammals. E Jones et al. (1972 B Y Un Sc Bull 17: 1-40) found larvae and nymphs on wild rodents from Venezuela. J Botelho (personal communication) observed this species on Dasyprocta fuliginosa (Rodentia) in Brazil.

The only record for I. auritulus in Brazil (Cooley & Kohls loc. cit.) is restricted to birds, Knipolegus nigerrimus, Thamnophilus ruficapillus, and T. caerulescens from Itatiaia Mountains in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It seems that Aragao and Fonseca (1961 loc. cit.) omitted mentioning the occurrence of this species, although they were aware of it (H Aragao & F Fonseca 1952 Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 50: 727-728). In the State of Parana, there are only records of I. loricatus and I. didelphidis on mammals (L Guimaraes 1945 Arq Mus Paran 4: 179-190, S Ribeiro 1966/1967 An Fac Med Un Fed Parana 9/10: 7-47, D Barros & D Baggio 1992 Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 87: 291-296).

This communication records the first occurrence of I. auritulus in Parana, and probably constitutes the first report on T. rufiventris and T. albicollis. These two Turdus species are not migratory but are well disseminated in Brazil and other South American countries (R Schauensee 1982 Intercollegiate Press, Filadelfia, 498 pp, H Sick 1988 3rd ed. I/II, Brasilia, 827 pp). Studies on biology and ecology of Ixodes spp. parasiting birds are being carried on so that aspects of their dispersion may be clarified.

Acknowledgements: to Dr Domingos Baggio, Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, for confirming the identification of I. auritulus, and to Dalila Ribeiro Viana, Museu de Historia Natural "Capao da Imbuia", for the collecting opportunity.

Copyright 1994 Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.

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