Amblyomma dissimile Koch (Acari: Ixodidae) attacking Primolius maracana Vieillot (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae) in the Amazon region, state of Pará, Brazil

SCIENTIFIC NOTE

Amblyomma dissimile Koch (Acari: Ixodidae) attacking Primolius maracana Vieillot (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae) in the Amazon region, state of Pará, Brazil

A Scofield^I; M Bahia^I; AL Martins^II; G Góes-Cavalcante^I; TF Martins^III; MB Labruna^III

^ILab de Parasitologia Animal, Fac de Medicina Veterinária, Univ Federal do Pará, Castanhal, PA, Brasil

^IIParque Mangal das Garças, Belém, PA, Brasil

^IIIDepto de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Fac de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Univ de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

^{Correspondence}

ABSTRACT

The tick Amblyomma dissimile Koch feeds preferentially on reptiles (Squamata), although amphibians (Anura) also seem to be important hosts. We report an A. dissimile nymph infesting a blue-winged macaw, Primolius maracana, held in captivity in the Mangal das Garças Park, State of Pará, Brazil. Environmental observations suggest that free-living iguanas (Iguana iguana), which used to walk on the bird enclosure in the park, were the source of the A. dissimile tick that infested the blue-winged macaw. We provide the second world record of a bird host for A. dissimile, and the first bird record for this species in South America.

Keywords: Bird, macaw, tick

The tick Amblyomma dissimile Koch is widespread in the Neotropical region, with reports from Argentina to southern Mexico and the Caribbean (Guglielmone et al 2003). It has also been reported in the Nearctic region, more specifically, in southern United States (Keirans & Durden 1998). Larvae, nymphs and adults of A. dissimile feed preferentially on reptiles (Squamata), although amphibians (Anura) also seem to be important hosts (Fairchild et al 1966, Jones et al 1972, Guglielmone et al 2003). Infestations by A. dissimile on mammalian hosts, including humans, have occasionally been reported (Jones et al 1972, Botelho et al 1992, Guglielmone et al 2006). There has been only a single record of bird infestation by A. dissimile, which refers to a male tick collected on a boat-billed heron, Cochlearius cochlearius (Ciconiformes: Ardeidae), in Panama (Fairchild et al 1966). Here we report an A. dissimile nymph infesting a blue-winged macaw, Primolius maracana, in Brazil.

This observation was performed in the Parque Mangal das Garças, Belém Municipality (01º27'21"S, 48º30'16"W), State of Pará, in eastern Brazilian Amazon. On 12 February 2010, during a routine examination of a captive P. maracana, a tick found attached to the base of its beak (Fig 1) was removed with forceps and immediately preserved in 70% ethanol. In the laboratory, the tick was identified as a partially engorged nymph of A. dissimile according to Martins et al (2010). In addition to characters typical for Amblyomma, the specimen had a scutum sparsely punctuated, with slightly sinuous posterolateral margin, basis capituli sub-triangular and without cornua, and hypostomal dentition 2.5/2.5 (Fig 2), which are typical characters of the A. dissimile nymphal stage (Martins et al 2010). The tick specimen has been deposited in the tick collection "Coleção Nacional de Carrapatos" (CNC) of the Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia of the Universidade de São Paulo (accession number CNC-1548).

The A. dissimile-infested P. maracana had been maintained in an enclosure of the park with another P. maracana, a severe macaw Ara severus, and two scarlet macaws Ara macao since late 2009, when the two P. maracana were brought to the park. No tick infestation was detected on any of those birds during that time. A variety of free-living reptiles, especially green iguanas Iguana iguana, and scorpion mud turtles Kinosternon scorpioides are found in that park. Some of the free-living iguanas were recently examined and found to be infested by A. dissimile adult ticks (Carvalho N et al unpublished data). Iguanas are frequently observed walking on the wire screen ceiling of the macaw enclosure. Since iguanas are considered important hosts for A. dissimile (Aragão 1936), their close proximity to the macaws could have been the source of the A. dissimile nymph found on P. maracana.

Ticks are vectors of more infectious agents that any other group of arthropods, including mosquitoes (Oliver 1989). For instance, A. dissimile is a potential vector of heartwater, a severe cattle disease caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium, for which reptiles could be subclinical carriers, infective to vector ticks (Jongejan 1992). Heartwater is an African disease that was introduced more than 100 years ago with its African vector [(Amblyomma variegatum (Fabricius)] to the Caribbean, where both became established (Jongejan 1992). Since then, there has been a constant risk for a catastrophic introduction of heartwater into the American mainland, where A. dissimile could contribute to the amplification of E. ruminantium (Guglielmone et al 2003). Our study reinforces that besides being a typical reptile tick, A. dissimile could attack other hosts under certain circumstances. Knowledge on tick host range is crucial for the determination of measures for preventing and controlling tick-borne diseases.

Received 12 April 2010 and accepted 31 January 2011

Edited by Gilberto J de Moraes – ESALQ/USP

• Aragão HB (1936) Ixodidas brasileiros e de alguns países limítrofes. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 31: 759-843.
• Botelho MCN, Leite LMRM, Bastos Neto IP, Silva AM da, Campello MLCB, Aguiar MCA, Serra-Freire NM, Oliveira JB (2002) Amblyomma dissimile Kock, 1844 (Acari, Ixodidae) em mamíferos silvestres no estado de Pernambuco, Brasil. Entomol Vect 9: 71-78.
• Fairchild GB, Kohls GM, Tipton V (1966) The ticks of Panama, p. 167-219. In Wenzel R L, Tipton V J (eds) Ectoparasites of Panama. Field Museum Natural History, Chicago, IL, 861p.
• Guglielmone AA, Beati L, Barros-Battesti DM, Labruna MB, Nava S, Venzal JM, Mangold AJ, Szabo MP, Martins JR, Gonzalez-Acuna D (2006) Ticks (Ixodidae) on humans in South America. Exp Appl Acarol 40: 83-100.
• Guglielmone AA, Estrada-Peña A, Keirans JE, Robbins RG (2003) Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) of the neotropical zoogeographic region. Atlanta Houten, International Consortium on Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 173p.
• Jones EK, Clifford CM, Keirans JE, Kohls GM (1972) The ticks of Venezuela (Acarina: Ixodoidea) with a key to the species of Amblyomma in the Western Hemisphere. Brigham Young Univ Sci Bull, Bio Ser 17: 1-40.
• Jongejan F (1992) Experimental transmission of Cowdria ruminantium (Rickettsiales) by the American reptile tick Amblyomma dissimile Koch, 1844. Exp Appl Acarol 15: 117-21.
• Keirans JE, Durden AL (1998) Illustrated key to nymphs of the tick genus Amblyomma (Acari: Ixodidae) found in the United States. J Med Entomol 35: 489-495.
• Martins TF, Onofrio VC, Barros-Battesti DM, Labruna MB (2010) Nymphs of the genus Amblyomma (Acari: Ixodidae) of Brazil: descriptions, redescriptions, and identification key. Ticks Tick-borne Dis 1: 75-99.
• Oliver Jr JH (1989) Biology and systematics of ticks (Acari: Ixodida). Annu Rev Ecol Syst 20: 397-430.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  14 Sept 2011
• Date of issue
  Aug 2011

History

• Accepted
  31 Jan 2011
• Received
  12 Apr 2010