New host and locality records for the Ixodes auritulus Neumann, 1904 (Acari: Ixodidae) species group in northern Chile

Abstract

Specimens of Ixodes auritulus Neumann, 1904 show considerable morphological variation (Nuttall 1916; Arthur 1960; Dumbleton 1973; González-Acuña et al. 2005); therefore, Arthur (1960) and González-Acuña et al. (2005) use the term “I. auritulus species group,” inferring that more than one taxon is included under this name. Ticks of this group are bird parasites in the Australasian, Ethiopian, Nearctic and Neotropical Zoogeographic Regions (Guglielmone et al. 2003). González-Acuña et al. (2005) studied the host relationships of the I. auritulus group in the Neotropics and found that while members of the orders Ciconiiformes, Columbiformes, Falconiformes, Galliformes, Passeriformes, Piciformes, Procellariiformes and Tinamiformes all serve as hosts for these ticks, passeriforms are probably the principal hosts, sustaining tick populations throughout the region.The I. auritulus species group appears to have a disjunct distribution in the NeotropicalZoogeographic Region. One area of supposed endemism is located in southern South America (from 56°S to 51°S) and includes Punta Arenas, the Chilean type locality for I. auritulus (Neumann, 1899).Others are located in southern Brazil (25°S to 22°S), south-central Peru (14°S to 10°S) and Central America (10°N to 15°N). Herein we report new host and locality records and sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene of I. auritulus group ticks from northern Chile.