Abstract

BackgroundIxodes barkeri, a tick with a distinctive ventrolateral horn-like projection on palpal segment 1, was described in 2019 from two male ticks from the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia. However, females lie at the core of the taxonomy and subgenus classification of Ixodes; hence, we sought specimens of female ticks, successfully recovering females, plus nymphs and larvae. Mitochondrial genomes are also desirable additions to the descriptions of species of ticks particularly regarding subgenus systematics. So, we sequenced the mt genomes of I. barkeri Barker, 2019, and the possible relatives of I. barkeri that were available to us (I. australiensis Neumann, 1904, I. fecialis Warburton & Nuttall, 1909, and I. woyliei Ash et al. 2017) with a view to discovering which if any of the subgenera of Ixodes would be most suitable for I. barkeri Barker, 2019.ResultsThe female, nymph, larva and mitochondrial genome of Ixodes barkeri Barker, 2019, are described for the first time and the male of I. barkeri is redescribed in greater detail than previously. So far, I. barkeri is known only from a monotreme, the short-beaked echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus (Shaw, 1792), from the highland rainforests of the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia.ConclusionsOur phylogeny from entire mitochondrial genomes indicated that I. barkeri and indeed I. woyliei Ash et al., 2017, another tick that was described recently, are best placed in the subgenus Endopalpiger Schulze, 1935.Graphical

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.