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Tick
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are from the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years old. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates. Ticks belong to two major families, the Ixodidae or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. ''Nuttalliella,'' a genus of tick from southern Africa is the only member of the family Nuttalliellidae, and represents the most primitive living lineage of ticks. Adults have ovoid/pear-shaped bodies (idiosomas) which become engorged with blood when they feed, and eight legs. Their cephalothorax and abdomen are completely fused. In addit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tick In Amber Carrying Spirochetes
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are from the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years old. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates. Ticks belong to two major families, the Ixodidae or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. ''Nuttalliella,'' a genus of tick from southern Africa is the only member of the family Nuttalliellidae, and represents the most primitive living lineage of ticks. Adults have ovoid/pear-shaped bodies (idiosomas) which become engorged with blood when they feed, and eight legs. Their cephalothorax and abdomen are completely fused. In additi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amblyomma
''Amblyomma'' is a genus of hard ticks. Some are disease vectors, for example the Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Brazil or ehrlichiosis in the United States. This genus is the third largest in the family Ixodidae, with its species primarily occupying the torrid zones of all the continents. The centre of species diversity is on the American continent, where half of all the species occur. On this continent, ''Amblyomma'' species reach far beyond the torrid zone, up to the 40th parallel in the Northern Hemisphere, to the 50th parallel in the Southern Hemisphere, and even reaches the alpine zone of the Andes. They also occur in Eurasia, Africa and Australia. G. V. Kolonin, Fauna of Ixodid Ticks of the World (Acari, Ixodidae), Moscow 2009 Species * '' Am ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evidence of a close relationship. Most mites are tiny, less than in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others again are Predation, predators or Parasitism, parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive ''Varroa'' parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of mites is called acarology. Evolution and taxonomy The mites are not a defined taxon, but is used for two disti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ixodes Ricinus
''Ixodes ricinus'', the castor bean tick, is a chiefly European species of hard-bodied tick. It may reach a length of when engorged with a blood meal, and can transmit both bacterial and viral pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis. Description In common with other species of ''Ixodes'', ''I. ricinus'' has no eyes and is not ornate; it has no festoons (wrinkles along the posterior margin). The palpi are longer than they are wide, and an anal groove is above the anus. It has a hard dorsal shield which covers the entire opisthosoma (abdomen), but only part of it in females and nymphs. ''I. ricinus'' is the largest of the three common species of ''Ixodes'' in the British Isles (the other two being '' I. canisuga'', the British dog tick, and '' I. trianguliceps'', the vole tick). Adult males are long, and unfed nymphs are long; females are long before feeding and long when engorged. Distribution ''Ixodes rici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ixodidae
The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, one of the three families of ticks, consisting of over 700 species. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'soft ticks' (Argasidae), lack. They are ectoparasites of a wide range of host species, and some are vectors of pathogens that can cause human disease. Description They are distinguished from the Argasidae by the presence of a scutum. In both the nymph and the adult, a prominent gnathosoma (or capitulum, mouth and feeding parts) projects forward from the animal's body; in the Argasidae, conversely, the gnathosoma is concealed beneath the body. They differ, too, in their lifecycle; Ixodidae that attach to a host bite painlessly and are generally unnoticed, and they remain in place until they engorge and are ready to change their skin; this process may take days or weeks. Some species drop off the host to moult in a safe place, whereas others r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as Armillaria mellea, honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the Orobanchaceae, broomrapes. There are six major parasitic Behavioral ecology#Evolutionarily stable strategy, strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), wikt:trophic, trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), Disease vector, vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropreda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argasidae
The Argasidae are the family of soft ticks, one of the three families of ticks. The family contains 193 species, although the composition of the genera is less certain, and more study is needed before the genera can become stable. The currently accepted genera are '' Antricola'', '' Argas'', '' Nothoaspis'', ''Ornithodoros'', and '' Otobius''. The Argasidae are very common in South Asia, along with 96 other species of ticks, making South Asia the region with the highest biodiversity of ticks worldwide. Soft ticks are resistant to desiccation and can live for several years in arid conditions. Physical characteristics Soft ticks lack the hard scutum present in the hard ticks (Ixodidae). The gnathosoma (or capitulum, the mouthparts-bearing structure) is located on the underside of the animal's body and is not readily visible, while in the Ixodidae, the gnathosoma projects forward from the body. The lateral edges of the body are rounded. See also *Ticks of domestic animals Ticks of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deinocroton
''Deinocroton'' is an extinct genus of tick. It is known from two species found in Burmese amber, dating to the earliest part of the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 99 million years ago. Amongst the oldest ticks known, it is distinct from the main two living families of ticks, Ixodidae (hard bodied) and Argasidae (soft bodied), as well as ''Nuttalliella,'' and has been placed in the monotypic family Deinocrotonidae. Taxonomy Two species have been named, ''D. draculi'' and ''D. copia,'' both from Burmese amber, which dates to the late Albian-early Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago. Etymology The name of the genus ''Deinocroton'' is composed of two words from the ancient Greek "deinos", "terrible", and "krotṓn", "krotṓn", "tick". The name of the species ''draculi'' refers to the vampire Count Dracula from the epistolary novel ''Dracula'' by British writer Bram Stoker. Description ''Deinocroton'' is distinguished from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deinocrotonidae
''Deinocroton'' is an extinct genus of tick. It is known from two species found in Burmese amber, dating to the earliest part of the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 99 million years ago. Amongst the oldest ticks known, it is distinct from the main two living families of ticks, Ixodidae (hard bodied) and Argasidae (soft bodied), as well as ''Nuttalliella,'' and has been placed in the monotypic family Deinocrotonidae. Taxonomy Two species have been named, ''D. draculi'' and ''D. copia,'' both from Burmese amber, which dates to the late Albian-early Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago. Etymology The name of the genus ''Deinocroton'' is composed of two words from the ancient Greek "deinos", "terrible", and "krotṓn", "krotṓn", "tick". The name of the species ''draculi'' refers to the vampire Count Dracula from the epistolary novel ''Dracula'' by British writer Bram Stoker. Description ''Deinocroton'' is distinguished from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuttalliella
''Nuttalliella namaqua'' is a tick found in southern Africa from Tanzania to Namibia and South Africa, which is placed in its own family, Nuttalliellidae. It can be distinguished from ixodid ticks and argasid ticks by a combination of characteristics including the position of the stigmata, lack of setae, strongly corrugated integument, and form of the fenestrated plates. It is the most basal lineage of ticks. History Early zoological descriptions The first description by G.A.H. Bedford in 1931 was based upon a single female collected under a stone at Kamieskroon, in Little Namaqualand, by Dr R.F. Lawrence in October 1930. (1931):''Nuttalliella namaqua'', a new genus and species of tick. ''Parasitology'' 23 (2): 230-232. The genus and family were named for the bacteriologist George Nuttall, a specialist in diseases transmitted by ticks. As of 1980, only eighteen specimens had been collected. In a 2011 study, that number was increased to fifty-one total specimens. They we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Jersey Amber
New Jersey Amber, sometimes called Raritan amber, is amber found in the Raritan and Magothy Formations of the Central Atlantic (Eastern) coast of the United States. It is dated to the Late Cretaceous, Turonian age, based on pollen analysis of the host formations. It has been known since the 19th century, with several of the old clay-pit sites now producing many specimens for study. It has yielded a number of organism fossils, including fungi, plants, tardigrades, insects and feathers. The first identified Cretaceous age ant was described from a fossil found in New Jersey in 1966. Occurrence Though named after New Jersey, the fossil-bearing strata of the Raritan and overlying Magothy formations are also exposed in several neighboring U.S. states, including Maryland through south and central New Jersey, across Staten Island and Long Island (coastal areas of New York state), to a northern exposure at Martha's Vineyard, an island of Massachusetts. Of the two formations that New Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hematophagy
Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα ' "blood" and φαγεῖν ' "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without great effort, hematophagy is a preferred form of feeding for many small animals, such as worms and arthropods. Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomatids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut, and about 75 percent of all species of leeches (e.g., ''Hirudo medicinalis'') are hematophagous. The spider Evarcha culicivora feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by specializing on blood-filled female mosquitoes as their preferred prey. Some fish, such as lampreys and candirus, and mammals, especially the vampire bats, and birds, such as the vampire finches, hood mockingbirds, the Tristan thrush, and oxpeckers also practise hematophagy. Mechanism and evolution These hematophag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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