Eight commercial insect repellents were tested against Ornithodoros parkeri (Acari: Argasidae), Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae), Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae), and Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae). Patterns of tolerance to the test materials were distinctive for each test species. Levels of tolerance were coded as character state 0 (sensitive), 1 (intermediate), or 2 (...

1. Pleomorphic, bacterium-like, Gram-negative, intracellular microorganisms, which stained much less intensely with ordinary dyes than most bacteria were found in sixteen species of ticks comprising examples of the Argasidae and the Ixodidae. 2. In six of these species studied intensively slight differences in the microorganisms were detected, sufficient to permit identification of the vectors ...

Tick-borne relapsing fever is caused by spirochetes within the genus Borrelia. The hallmark of this disease is recurrent febrile episodes and high spirochete densities in mammalian blood resulting from immune evasion. Between episodes of spirochetemia when bacterial densities are low, it is unknown whether ticks can acquire the spirochetes, become colonized by the bacteria, and subsequently tra...

A larval argasid tick (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) is described from a single specimen preserved in amber from New Jersey. The amber is dated as Turonian, 90Ð94 mya, and thereby doubles the age of the oldest fossil in the mite order Parasitiformes. The specimen shows general characteristics of the genus Carios, but is unique because of its pattern of dorsal setae, featuring a double row of poste...

The ticks reported in Paraguay, which are here reviewed, can be categorized as 'endemic or established' (Argas persicus or a sibling species, Ornithodoros hasei, O. rostratus, O. rudis, O. talaje/O. puertoricensis, Amblyomma aureolatum, Am. auricularium, Am. brasiliense, Am. cajennense, Am. calcaratum, Am. coelebs, Am. dissimile, Am. dubitatum, Am. incisum, Am. longirostre, Am. nodosum, Am. ova...

T relapsing fever (TBRF) is caused by Borrelia species and is transmitted to humans by Ornithodoros soft ticks. Worldwide, a dozen Borrelia species are known to cause this disease (1). In Israel, TBRF is considered to be caused by Borrelia persica and transmitted by the cave tick Ornithodoros tholozani (1). This tick and TBRF are distributed through Central Asia (2) and the Middle East (1). Oth...

Ticks are monophyletic and composed of the hard (Ixodidae) and soft (Argasidae) tick families, as well as the Nuttalliellidae, a family with a single species, Nuttalliella namaqua. Significant biological differences in lifestyle strategies for hard and soft ticks suggest that various blood-feeding adaptations occurred after their divergence. The phylogenetic relationships between the tick famil...

A relatively high rate of mortality among engorged females of Ornithodoros moubata (Murray, 1877) was observed in our laboratory colony. The general aim of the study was to identify the causative agent responsible for this mortality. The diagnostic tests were performed by Yeast Identification Service (CBS-Delft, Netherlands) and the pathogen was identified as the yeast Candida haemulonii (van U...