ABSTRACT The tick Amblyomma humerale is endemic to South America, where its adult stage has been reportedmostly from terrestrial tortoises, whereas larvae and nymphs have been reported on various species of reptiles, birds, and mammals. Herein, we evaluated for the first time the life cycle of A. humerale in the laboratory. For this purpose, larvae and nymphs were exposed to feed on six host species: Gallus gallus, Mesocricetus auratus, Calomys callosus, Chelonoidis carbonaria, Salvator meriana e, and Trachemys scripta. Adult ticks were exposed to feed on T. scripta. The life-cycle of A. humerale in the laboratory could be completed in an average period of ca. 200 days, considering prefeeding periods of 25 days for each of the parasitic stages. One bird species (G. gallus), one small mammal (C. callosus) and one reptile species (C. carbonaria) were the most suitable hosts for larvae; however, chickens (G. gallus) were the most suitable host for nymphs, whereas a turtle species (T. scripta) was highly suitable for adult ticks. These results corroborate field observations that indicated that the immature stages of A. humerale have a low host specificity, being able to feed successfully on reptiles, birds, and mammals, whereas reptiles are important hosts for the adult stage.

中文翻译：

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实验室中蜱 Amblyomma humerale (Parasitiformes: Ixodida) 的生命周期

摘要 Amblyomma humerale 蜱是南美洲的特有种，其成虫阶段主要来自陆龟，而幼虫和若虫则存在于各种爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物身上。在此，我们首次在实验室评估了 A. humerale 的生命周期。为此，幼虫和若虫以六种宿主物种为食：鸡、Mesocricetus auratus、Calomys callosus、Chelonoidis carbonaria、Salvator meriana e 和 Trachemys scripta。成年蜱接触以T. scripta为食。实验室中 A. humerale 的生命周期可以在平均约 2 个月的时间内完成。200 天，考虑到每个寄生阶段 25 天的预饲期。一种鸟类 (G. gallus)、一种小型哺乳动物 (C. callosus) 和一种爬行动物 (C. carbonaria) 是幼虫最适合的寄主；然而，鸡 (G. gallus) 是若虫最适合的宿主，而龟类 (T. scripta) 则非常适合成年蜱。这些结果证实了现场观察结果，即 A. humerale 的未成熟阶段具有较低的宿主特异性，能够成功地以爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物为食，而爬行动物是成年阶段的重要宿主。