Bat ticks revisited: Ixodes ariadnae sp. nov. and allopatric genotypes of I. vespertilionis in caves of Hungary.
BACKGROUND
In Europe two ixodid bat tick species, Ixodes vespertilionis and I. simplex were hitherto known to occur.


METHODS
Bat ticks were collected from cave walls and bats in Hungary. Their morphology and genotypes were compared with microscopy and conventional PCR (followed by sequencing), respectively.


RESULTS
A year-round activity of I. vespertilionis was observed. Molecular analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of twenty ticks from different caves showed that the occurrence of the most common genotype was associated with the caves close to each other. A few specimens of a morphologically different tick variant were also found and their COI analysis revealed only 86-88% sequence homology with I. simplex and I. vespertilionis, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The microenvironment of caves (well separated from each other) appears to support the existence of allopatric I. vespertilionis COI genotypes, most likely related to the distance between caves and to bat migration over-bridging certain caves. The name I. ariadnae sp. nov. is given to the new tick species described here for the first time.
Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary. hornok.sandor@aotk.szie.hu.
Sándor
S
Hornok
Jenő
J
Kontschán
Dávid
D
Kováts
Richárd
R
Kovács
Dorottya
D
Angyal
Tamás
T
Görföl
Zsolt
Z
Polacsek
Zsuzsa
Z
Kalmár
Andrei D
AD
Mihalca
D000818:Animals; D059552:Caves; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000469:parasitology*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D018884:Ixodes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D007814:Larva / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D009758:Nymph / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*
D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV