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Bird ticks in an area of the Cerrado of Minas Gerais State, southeast Brazil

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Abstract

In the present study the tick prevalence, mean intensity of infestation and species were recorded on birds captured between January 2009 and December 2010 in the Ecological Station Pirapitinga-ESEC from Minas Gerais State, Brazil. A total of 967 birds, from 15 families and 40 species were captured and 165 (17.1 %) individuals were parasitized by ticks. Of these 160 (97 %) belonged to the order Passeriformes. Five tick species were identified: Amblyomma longirostre (n = 274) was the most common species followed by Amblyomma parvum (n = 43), Amblyomma nodosum (n = 39), Amblyomma ovale (n = 24) and Riphicephalus sanguineus (n = 7). None of 61 unengorged larvae molted to nymph. The mean intensity of infestation was 2.7 ± 2.4 ticks per bird (448 ticks/165 birds) ranging from 1 to 10. Only 19 (11.4 %) birds were infested with one species of tick. The remaining birds were infested by two, three or four species of ticks. Also new hosts for all five ticks were recorded. Only nymphs were recorded throughout the year with two similar peaks during autumn and winter 2009 and 2010.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Marcelo Bahia Labruna for reviewing the manuscript and the staff of ESEC-Pirapitinga for helping with bird capture. This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES–MEC) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientıfico e Tecnologico (CNPq).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Parasitologia Animal, Instituto de Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, 23890-000, Brazil

    Hermes Ribeiro Luz, João Luiz Horacio Faccini, Gabriel Alves Landulfo & Bruno Pereira Berto

  2. Departamento de Zoologia Animal, Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, 23890-000, Brazil

    Ildemar Ferreira

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  1. Hermes Ribeiro Luz
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  2. João Luiz Horacio Faccini
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  3. Gabriel Alves Landulfo
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  4. Bruno Pereira Berto
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  5. Ildemar Ferreira
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Correspondence to Hermes Ribeiro Luz.

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Luz, H.R., Faccini, J.L.H., Landulfo, G.A. et al. Bird ticks in an area of the Cerrado of Minas Gerais State, southeast Brazil. Exp Appl Acarol 58, 89–99 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9572-7

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