New data on hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) from the caves of Crimea and the Caucasus

About authors:

Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Borok, Russia
T. I. Vyazemsky Karadag Scientific Station, Nature Reserve of the RAS, Branch of A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Feodosia, Russia

Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Borok, Russia

A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Moscow, Russia

Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe”, Saratov, Russia

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, RAS, Moscow, Russia

Acknowledgments:

The authors express gratitude to Polina V. Somchenko and Elizaveta M. Chertoprud for providing the materials. The research of Ilya S. Turbanov and Anastasiya A. Turbanova was conducted within the framework of the State Assignments No. 124032500016-4 and 124030100098-0.

The research of Alexandr Matyukhin and Aleksandra Yatsuk was performed as part of the State Research Project of the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (No. 1022061500172-3-1.6.19).

Abstract:

This article presents the results of a taxonomic processing of hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) from the caves of Crimea and the Caucasus. All studied material was collected in caves, from the habitats of their potential hosts. As a result of the present study, the hard tick fauna from the caves of Crimea and the Caucasus presently amounts to four species from two genera. The species Ixodes redikorzevi was recorded from caves by us for the first time. One of the recorded species, I. vespertilionis, is an eutroglophile that is a specialized parasitize on bats. Other species, I. hexagonus, I. redikorzevi and Hyalomma marginatum, are trogloxenes, entering the caves with their hosts during periodic visits.

DOI: 10.21684/0132-8077-2025-33-2-189-193

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