Ornithodoros (O.) indica sp. n. (Ixodoidea: Argasidae), a Parasite of the Barking Deer in the North-East Frontier Agency of India

Abstract

Ornithodoros (0.) indica sp. n. is described from a female specimen originally taken as a first-instar nymph feeding on a barking deer, or muntjak, Muntiacus muntjac vaginalis (Boddaert), in Himalayan foothills of the North-East Frontier Agency, India. This specimen underwent 7 nymphal in- stars in the laboratory. A member of the subgenus Ornithodoros, it is related to the 0. (0.) moubata complex (tropical Africa), O. (0.) savignyi (Audouin) (South Africa to India and Ceylon), O. (0.) procaviae Theodor and Costa (Israel), and 0. (0.) eremicus Cooley and Kohls (USA, Utah). Thus the presence of O. (0.) indica in the Himalayan area presents an interesting problem in factors influenc- ing distribution of members of this subgenus. The new species described here is especially interesting owing to its close relationship to the medically important Ornithodoros (0.) mou- bata complex of tropical Africa, its discovery in the Himalayan foothills of northeastern India as a first-instar nymph feeding on a deer, and its numerous nymphal instars in the laboratory.