| Literature DB >> 25614120 |
Rafael Antonio Nascimento Ramos1, Bronwyn Evelyn Campbell1, Alice Whittle2, Riccardo Paolo Lia1, Fabrizio Montarsi3, Antonio Parisi4, Filipe Dantas-Torres5, Richard Wall1, Domenico Otranto6.
Abstract
Natural enemies of ticks include the parasitoid wasp Ixodiphagus hookeri (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the occurrence of I. hookeri DNA in a community of ticks (Ixodes ricinus, Dermacentor marginatus, Hyalomma marginatum, Haemaphysalis inermis and Rhipicephalus turanicus). From May 2010 to March 2012, ticks were collected monthly by dragging and flagging, identified, and 481 adults and 305 nymphs screened molecularly for infection with I. hookeri. Of the samples tested (n=786), 3.1% (n=25) were positive for I. hookeri DNA, 7.2% (n=22) in nymphs and 0.6% (n=3) in adults. I. hookeri DNA was only detected in I. ricinus. This study shows that I. hookeri infests I. ricinus in southern Italy, with nymphs being the main developmental stage affected by this wasp.Entities:
Keywords: Ixodiphagus; Molecular identification; Parasitoid; Ticks
Mesh：
Year: 2015 PMID： 25614120 DOI： 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2015.01.001
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Ticks Tick Borne Dis ISSN： 1877-959X Impact factor: 3.744