Article
Entomology
Jani J. Sormunen, Tero Klemola, Eero J. Vesterinen
Summary: Birds can transport various species of ticks and tick-borne pathogens during their migrations. In Finland, a study initiated in 2018 aimed to update knowledge on ticks parasitizing birds by collecting ticks from both migrating and local birds. The most commonly collected tick species was Ixodes ricinus, with few exotic species found.
EXPERIMENTAL AND APPLIED ACAROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Caitlin A. O'Brien, Bixing Huang, David Warrilow, Jessamine E. Hazlewood, Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann, Sonja Hall-Mendelin, Cassandra L. Pegg, Jessica J. Harrison, Devina Paramitha, Natalee D. Newton, Benjamin L. Schulz, Andreas Suhrbier, Jody Hobson-Peters, Roy A. Hall
Summary: A subset of Australians bitten by ticks experience chronic and debilitating symptoms that cannot be explained by known pathogenic bacteria. In an effort to understand these symptoms, researchers in Australia are identifying and characterising viruses in ticks. This study successfully characterises five tick-borne viruses and provides insights into their replication and antigenic profiles.
PARASITES & VECTORS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Karen D. D. McCoy, Celine Toty, Marlene Dupraz, Jeremy Tornos, Amandine Gamble, Romain Garnier, Sebastien Descamps, Thierry Boulinier
Summary: Climate change has significant impacts on species in polar regions. The expansion of the seabird tick, Ixodes uriae, in the high Arctic has been linked to climate change. However, recent population genetic data and host serology suggest that the tick has been present in Svalbard for a long time, maintaining high population sizes and a transmission cycle of Lyme disease bacteria.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nuria Salmeron, Solenne Belle, Francisco Santa Cruz, Nicolas Alegria, Julia Victoria Grohmann Finger, Denyelle Hennayra Cora, Maria Virginia Petry, Cristina Hernandez, Cesar A. Cardenas, Lucas Kruger
Summary: Dramatic declines in chinstrap penguin populations near the Antarctic Peninsula are likely due to changes in climate that affect their main food source, Antarctic krill. However, there is limited empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. This study used data on breeding chinstrap penguins, remote sensing of the environment, and estimates of krill abundance to show that a decrease in krill availability led to increased foraging effort by the penguins and a reduction in breeding success. These findings highlight the importance of environmental variability on penguin populations, which may be further impacted by climate change.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Jose E. Celis, Winfred Espejo, Gustavo Chiang, Daiki Kitamura, Shosaku Kashiwada, Nelson J. O'Driscoll
Summary: This study quantified the concentration of rare earth elements (REEs) and trace elements (TEs) in the feces of gentoo penguins. The results showed that gentoo penguins act as biovectors, transporting TEs and REEs from the sea to land via their excreta, making them an important biovector organism in Antarctic ecosystems. Further research is needed to understand the potential impacts of this process on Antarctic ecosystems.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2023)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Latife Cakir Bayram, Cafer Tayer Isler, Goerkem Ekebas
Summary: This study is the first to investigate tear production (TP) and intraocular pressure (IOP) in Pygoscelis penguins in their natural habitat. The results show that IOP is significantly affected by location, and the study provides reference values for ocular tests in these penguins.
BMC VETERINARY RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Jeremy S. Gray, Nicholas H. Ogden
Summary: The distribution and activity of primary ixodid vectors of human babesiosis are impacted by global warming, leading to northwards expansion of tick populations. Models predict an increase in cases of human babesiosis further north, although no concrete evidence of the disease being affected by global warming currently exists.
Article
Ecology
W. Chris Oosthuizen, Pierre A. Pistorius, Malgorzata Korczak-Abshire, Jefferson T. Hinke, Mercedes Santos, Andrew D. Lowther
Summary: This study examines the movement behavior of nonbreeding Adelie penguins in Antarctica and finds spatial overlap between their foraging ranges and those of breeding penguins. The results suggest that breeding and nonbreeding penguins may be influenced differently by local environmental variability and highlight the importance of considering different life history stages when characterizing foraging behavior of marine predator populations.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kristen B. Gorman, Kate E. Ruck, Tony D. Williams, William R. Fraser
Summary: This study evaluated the dietary niche variation of Pygoscelis penguins in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, finding that penguins tended to become isotopically similar during the reproductive period. Penguins at southern breeding colonies had higher trophic positions and included more species from high Antarctic marine food webs. Penguins with greater population changes in the north had more variability in dietary niche width compared to stable populations further south.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Olcay Hekimoglu, Mert Elverici, Tarkan Yorulmaz
Summary: In this study, a comprehensive field-based survey was conducted on bat ticks in Turkey, resulting in the collection and identification of several species of bat ticks. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to provide insights into the relationships among these ticks. The results revealed two distinct lineages of I. vespertilionis in Turkey, while I. simplex showed significant genetic divergence from other bat tick species.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sam J. England, Katie Lihou, Daniel Robert
Summary: Terrestrial animals naturally accumulate electrostatic charges, which can attract parasites like ticks using electric forces across air gaps. Experimental and theoretical evidence shows that ticks can use electric fields to close the gap and attach to their hosts, regardless of the polarity of the electric field. This discovery provides new insights into how ticks and other terrestrial organisms find and attach to hosts or vectors, and may inspire novel solutions for mitigating the negative impacts of ticks on humans and livestock.
Review
Parasitology
Meriam N. Saleh, Kelly E. Allen, Megan W. Lineberry, Susan E. Little, Mason Reichard
Summary: This article summarizes the common ticks infesting dogs and cats in North America, including their life histories, morphologies, and feeding behaviors. It also highlights the changes in geographic distribution and the risks of tick-borne diseases for pets. Understanding the natural history of ticks and the maintenance cycles responsible for infections is crucial in combating the health challenges posed by ticks.
VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Audrey Bourdin, Theo Dokhelar, Severine Bord, Inge Van Halder, Alex Stemmelen, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Herve Jactel
Summary: With increasing deforestation, the abundance and diversity of ticks, specifically Ixodes ticks, are found to be higher in forests compared to nonforested habitats. The abundance of ticks in forests is positively influenced by the abundance of their ungulate hosts. However, further studies are needed to assess the risk of tick-borne disease transmission in forests, which depends on pathogen prevalence and human exposure.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David March, Massimiliano Drago, Manel Gazo, Mariluz Parga, Diego Rita, Luis Cardona
Summary: Detailed examination of Antarctic fur seals' demographic structure and behaviors in the Southern Ocean revealed a dominance of young individuals in the male population, with their distribution closely related to Antarctic krill. This segregation from adult females, who winter in different latitudes, has implications for the ecology and management of the krill fishery.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Entomology
Lucy Gilbert
Summary: Ticks are widespread and carry pathogens, impacting by climate change; tick-borne disease systems are complex with diverse drivers, modeling can help understand changes; future research should focus on assessing the resilience of ticks and tick-borne pathogens to climate change.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY, VOL 66, 2021
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Daniela Cajiao, Yu-Fai Leung, Pablo Tejedo, Andres Barbosa, Gunter Reck, Javier Benayas
Summary: Visitor Site Guidelines play a crucial role in minimizing the impact of tourist activities on Antarctic wildlife, particularly penguins. This study conducted experiments to explore penguins' behavioral responses to realistic tourist activities and found that active human presence triggered higher vigilance behavior. The results support the recommendations of the Visitor Site Guidelines in terms of maintaining silence, moving slowly, and increasing viewing distance when observing penguins.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Roger Colominas-Ciuro, Marcelo Bertellotti, Veronica L. D'Amico, Eliana Carabajal, Jesus Benzal, Virginia Vidal, Miguel Motas, Andres Barbosa
Summary: This study examines the ecological segregation and dietary antioxidant differences between male and female Magellanic penguins. The results suggest that foraging habitat and dietary antioxidants show significant sexual segregation, and this segregation is linked to sex-specific ecological niches.
Article
Microbiology
Andrea Springer, Daniela Jordan, Antje Glass, Olaf Kahl, Volker Fingerle, Philipp Girl, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler, Christina Strube
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between Borrelia prevalence and spirochete load with morphometric age in questing Ixodes ricinus nymphs in northern Germany. The results showed that there was no significant difference in infection prevalence between different morphometric age groups, but infection intensity declined significantly with increasing morphometric age. B. afzelii was found to be the dominant species among the differentiated infections.
Article
Parasitology
Abid Ali, Muhammad Numan, Mehran Khan, Ome Aiman, Sebastian Munoz-Leal, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler, Marcelo B. Labruna, Ard M. Nijhof
Summary: This is the first molecular study of an Ornithodoros species from Pakistan, confirming the genus of the specimens and detecting a Rickettsia sp. The study suggests that the specimen may belong to an undetermined species and is related to Rickettsia species from Chinese Argos japonicus ticks.
PARASITES & VECTORS
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Lidia Chitimia-Dobler, Ben J. Mans, Stephan Handschuh, Jason A. Dunlop
Summary: This study describes four new fossil tick species found in Burmese amber, including the oldest record of Ixodidae ticks, which may have a relationship with modern Australian species. The discovery of a transitional tick species, Khimairidae, combining characteristics of soft ticks and hard ticks is particularly remarkable. The study also introduces a new species of extinct Deinocrotonidae and associates a female individual of Cornupalpatum burmanicum with a dinosaur feather barb.
Article
Parasitology
Lidia Chitimia-Dobler, Ben J. Mans
Summary: The study reports the discovery of a nymph attached to a German tourist during a holiday in South Africa. The nymph was morphologically identified as Rhipicephalus maculatus, a rare tick in humans, and confirmed by sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA genes. However, screening for infection using pan-Rickettsia-PCR gave a negative result.
PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Ome Aiman, Shafi Ullah, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler, Ard M. M. Nijhof, Abid Ali
Summary: A study discovered a hard tick species called Nosomma monstrosum in Pakistan, which infests mainly Asian water buffaloes but can also infest other animals and humans. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship between the tick specimens from Pakistan and those reported from Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Michael Wimbauer, Deon K. Bakkes, Silke Woelfel, Michael Broeker, Sabine Schaper, Ramona Riess, Gerhard Dobler, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler
Summary: Tick-borne diseases are on the rise and birds contribute to the spread of ticks and their associated pathogens. A study conducted in Germany collected ticks from birds and found that different tick species carried different pathogens.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Olaf Kahl, Ingrid Bulling, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler
Summary: The authors collected hard tick specimens from different regions of Germany and identified them as hedgehog ticks. The study confirmed the species identification of two larvae through morphological examination and 16S rRNA gene amplification. The larvae were also tested for tick-borne encephalitis virus RNA, but the results were negative. Additionally, a previously unreported study revealed the long lifespan of unfed hedgehog tick larvae.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jose J. Cuervo, Judith Morales, Juan J. Soler, Juan Moreno
Summary: This study found that the pre-alternate molt is more frequent in migratory and less gregarious species. It is also associated with stronger sexual selection and time constraints. However, there is no support for the influence of social selection on the occurrence of the pre-alternate molt.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Rodrigo Megia-Palma, Javier Martinez, Patrick S. Fitze, Jose J. Cuervo, Josabel Belliure, Octavio Jimenez-Robles, Carlos Cabido, Jose Martin, Santiago Merino
Summary: This study collected blood samples from 23 lizard species in the western Mediterranean, North Africa, and Macaronesia, and molecularly detected multiple blood parasites including Karyolysus. The results supported the taxonomic validity of the genus and suggested that Karyolysus is less host-specific than other lizard parasites in the region.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Jose Martin, Isabel Barja, Gonzalo Rodriguez-Ruiz, Pablo Recio, Jose Javier Cuervo
Summary: This study validates a non-invasive technique to quantify glucocorticoid levels in the amphisbaenian reptile Trogonophis wiegmanni. The technique involves quantifying corticosterone metabolites from fresh fecal samples and was able to detect an increase in the fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels after external corticosterone supplementation. The study also found a high interindividual variation in baseline fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in a field population of this reptile, suggesting the potential for using this technique to investigate environmental causes of variation.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Pablo Recio, Gonzalo Rodriguez-Ruiz, Marco Sannolo, Jose Javier Cuervo, Pilar Lopez, Jose Martin
Summary: Conspecific cues, especially chemical cues, play a crucial role in amphisbaenian reptiles' site selection and habitat assessment. The proportion of compounds in scent marks allows them to estimate the body size of conspecifics, influencing their settlement decisions. However, the significance of scent marks varies depending on the substrate and context.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jose Martin, Gonzalo Rodriguez-Ruiz, Jose Javier Cuervo, Pilar Lopez
Summary: Chemical cues play a crucial role in intraspecific communication for many animals, especially for fossorial species. The amphisbaenian Trogonophis wiegmanni has been found to discriminate between conspecifics based on chemical cues, despite lacking external secretory glands. In this study, we analyzed the lipophilic compounds in feces and cloacal products of male and female T. wiegmanni, and found intersexual differences in the composition and proportion of these compounds.
