title: Contributions to the morphology and phylogeny of the newly discovered bat tick species, Ixodes ariadnae in comparison with I. vespertilionis and I. simplex.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently a new hard tick species, Ixodes ariadnae has been discovered, adding to the two known ixodid tick species (I. vespertilionis and I. simplex) of bats in Europe.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Scanning electron microscopic comparison of adult females of these species shows morphological differences concerning the palps, the scutum, the Haller's organ, the coxae, as well as the arrangement and fine structure of setae. Molecular analysis of 10 geographically different isolates revealed 90-95% sequence homology in the 12S and 16S rDNA genes of bat tick species. Based on 12S rDNA sequences, genotypes of I. ariadnae clustered closest to I. simplex, whereas according to their 16S rDNA gene they were closest to I. vespertilionis. The subolesin gene of I. ariadnae had only 91% sequence homology with that of I. ricinus, and is the longest known among hard tick species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study illustrates the morphology and clarifies the phylogenetic relationships of the three known bat tick species that occur in Europe. According to its subolesin gene I. ariadnae may have a long evolutionary history.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary. hornok.sandor@aotk.szie.hu.
authors.forename: Sándor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hornok
authors.affiliation: Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. jkontschan@gmail.com.|Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary. jkontschan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jenő
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kontschán
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Pathology, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. aestrada@unizar.es.
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Estrada-Peña
authors.affiliation: SaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain. mariaisabel.garcia@uclm.es.
authors.forename: Isabel G Fernández
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: de Mera
authors.affiliation: Department for Microbiology and Parasitology, Laboratory for Medical Entomology, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia. snezanat@imi.bg.ac.rs.
authors.forename: Snežana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomanović
authors.affiliation: SaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain. jose_delafuente@yahoo.com.|Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA. jose_delafuente@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000469:parasitology*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D058618:Sensilla / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal