ABNORMALITIES IN IXODES TICKS (IXODOIDEA, IXODINAE)

About authors:

A. N. Alekseev, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb., 1, 199034 St. Petersburg,
RUSSIA
H. V. Dubinina, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Emb. 1, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia

Annotation:

Ticks ofthe tick-borne encephalitisvirus vector species, Ixodes persulcatus, from St.Petersburg, Samara, and Moscow regions were examined for the presence ofabnormalities or monstrosities. The most common abnormalities were deformations ofthe female scutum dents, smoothed pattern ofthe chitinous «tiles», crumpled central and lateral parts ofthe scutum, and false duplication ofthe cervical grooves. In Samara Region we found an abnormality of the tibial part ofthe leg and a real monstrosity: an asymmetrical duplication ofvulva and an abnornmality ofthe genital opening area without any other symptoms of pathology in the same specimen. Among the specimens collected in the Pskov Region, where only 17 partially fed I.ricinus females were collected, one was found with an abnormal crater-like distortion of the idiosome cuticle. The abnormality rate 1.3, 2.6, and 14 % in St.Petersburg, Samara, and Moscow regions, respectively, seems very high,which maybe due to the heavy metal pollution level in the environment.
 

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