Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) bartelsi Schulze (Ixodoidea: Ixodidae): Immature Stages from a Treehole Nest of the Indonesian Red Giant Flying Squirrel

Abstract

The nymph and larva of Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) bartelsi Schulze are described from samples taken together with adults from a treehole nest of a red giant flying squirrel, Petaurista p. petaurista (Pallas), near the type locality of this tick taxon. Adults of H. (R.) bartelsi appear to be miniatures of the H. (R.) koningsbergeri Warburton and Nuttall, a common, widely distributed parasite of carnivores, but the illusion of close relationship of these two species is dispelled by the dissimilarity of the immature stages. Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) bartelsi Schulze was redescribed from six males and two females and a lectotype was selected (Wilson, Hoogstraal, and Kohls, 1968). No other specimens were known until we visited the Tjibodas Arboretum near the type locality, where we were fortunate to find a treehole nest of a red giant flying squirrel inhabited by numerous larvae and nymphs and two adults of H. (R.) bartelsi. The squirrels inhabiting this hole had been killed some weeks before our visit and the hungry ticks literally swarmed over the arms and body of our collector as soon as he put his hand into the nest. Owing to the relative similarity of adults of H. (R.) bartelsi and H. (R.) koningsbergeri Warburton and Nuttall, we had previously considered these species to be closely related. Received for publication 25 May 1972. * From Research Projects MF12.524.009-3010B and -0015B, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Department of the Navy, Washington, D. C. The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Navy or of the naval service at large. The illustrations in this report were prepared under the auspices of Agreement 03-005-01 between the NIAID (NIH) and NAMRU-3. t Medical Zoology Department, United States Naval Medical Research Unit Number Three (NAMRU-3), U. S. Interests Section, c/o Spanish Embassy, Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt. + Djakarta Detachment, United States Naval Medical Research Unit Number Two (NAMRU-2), c/o American Embassy, Djakarta, Indonesia. ? Director, Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Bogor, Indonesia. However, the greater degree of differences between their immature stages show that these species have probably arisen from independent stems within the subgenus Rhipistoma and that adult similarity results from a process of convergent evolution. Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) bartelsi Schulze Indonesian Flying-Squirrel Haemaphysalid (Figs. 1-15)