Abstract
Background: To better simulate and predict zoonotic disease outbreaks, data on arthropods acting as pathogen carriers and information on host-arthropod associations should be collected. Ticks are obligate haematophagous ectoparasites of vertebrate animals, including humans, with a wide global distribution. To date, the species discrimination and phylogenetic relationships among the ticks on lizards in China remain unclear. Methods: In this study, 31 ticks, collected from Eremias multiocellata lizards in four arid desert regions of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China, were identified by morphological observation and molecular techniques. The 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, and COI fragments of ticks were sequenced. As reference samples, 47 Chinese ticks from hedgehogs and one tick from brushwood were also included in this study. To infer the phylogenetic relationships among them, 32 12S rDNA, 77 16S rDNA, and 66 COI sequences of ticks retrieved from GenBank were also included. All samples were identified by phylogenetic analyses. Results: The Bayesian and network analysis results revealed that the 31 ticks from the lizards belong to three genera and three species: 11 were identified as Hyalomma asiaticum, three as Rhipicephalus turanicus, and 17 as Haemaphysalis sulcata. Conclusions: Our study is the first attempt to investigate ticks on lizards in the arid desert regions of Xinjiang, China. Notably, two species of ticks have been identified on lizards in China for the first time. The discoveries in this study are closely related to the geographical environment in Xinjiang, and should provide important information for the control of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in northern China.
Records of Three Mammal Tick Species Parasitizing an a typical Host, the Multi-ocellated Racerunner, in Arid Regions of Xinjiang, China