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Molecular identification and morphological variations of Dermacentor albipictus collected from two deer species in northern Mexico

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Abstract

In total, 57 ticks were collected from six white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and three mule deer (O. hemionus) in northern Mexico during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 hunting seasons. Morphological features of adult male and female ticks were observed and photographed using a stereo-microscope and scanning electron micrography. The ticks were identified as Dermacentor albipictus based on taxonomic keys. Molecular analysis using DNA amplification of the 16S rDNA and cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) genes was employed to resolve the phylogenetic relationships from 18 strains of Dermacentor species. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis was performed in order to obtain a phylogenetic tree based on the concatenated sequence in the D. albipictus clade. The geometric morphometric analysis compared the body shape of ticks collected from specimens of two deer species by analyzing nine dorsal and ventral landmarks from both males and females. The results suggest that body shape variation in dorsal structures might be related to the host.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Fondequip EQM170124. The authors appreciate help from MC. Carolina Silva de la Fuente, for technical and logistical support from Universidad De Concepción, Laboratorio de Parásitos y Enfermedades de Fauna Silvestre Chillán, Chile.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento en Ciencias Veterinarias, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

    Sharai Montiel-Armendáriz, Andrés Quezada-Casasola, Cuauhcihualt Vital-García & Angélica Escárcega-Ávila

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Instituto de Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Claudio Verdugo

  3. Laboratorio de Entomología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Alan Esteban Juache-Villagrana

  4. Departamento en Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

    Florinda Jiménez-Vega

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  1. Sharai Montiel-Armendáriz
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Correspondence to Angélica Escárcega-Ávila.

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Montiel-Armendáriz, S., Verdugo, C., Juache-Villagrana, A.E. et al. Molecular identification and morphological variations of Dermacentor albipictus collected from two deer species in northern Mexico. Exp Appl Acarol 84, 473–484 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-021-00613-7

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