Ixodes (Ixodes) nuttallianus Schulze: redescription of female, description of male, and hosts and ecology in Nepal (Acarina: Ixodidae).

Abstract

Ixodes (I.) nuttallianus Schulze, 1930 (first described under a preempted name, I. ricinoides Nuttall, 1913) has previously been known only from 5 female specimens from 2 deer in China. The female is redescribed and the male is described. This species is a member of the Eurasian ricinuspersulcatus group. Data are presented for 110 adults in collections from northcentral Nepal and southern Tibet at altitudes between 2632 and 3640 m. Hosts, except for a domestic dog, were wild and domesticated artiodactyl mammals of the families Cervidae and Bovidae (barking deer, serow, goral; domestic goat, cow, and cow-yak hybrid). The Nepal hosts are associated chiefly with oak and tall fir forest interspersed with rhododendron, and with thick alpine scrub and alpine meadows. Two Nepal collections were made in May (premonsoon, spring), but most in October-November (postmonsoon, fall-early winter). Some males and females were in copulo on hosts.