PRIMERA EVIDENCIA DE LA
OCURRENCIA DE AMBLYOMMA CALCARATUM NEUMANN, 1899 EN PERÚ
Abraham G. Càceres1,
Lorenza Beati2*, and James E. Keirans3.
Resumen
Se reporta la presencia del ácaro Amblyomma calcaratum colectado en un ejemplar de un
mirmecofagido Tamandua tetradactyla, capturado en julio del 2000 en la localidad de Bagua
Grande, Amazonas , Perú. Se mencionan las relaciones filogenéticas de esta especie con
A. nodosum y de su importancia médica.
Palabras clave: Amblyomma, Tamandua,
Amazonas, Vida silvestre, Perú.
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Amblyomma calcaratum Neumann is a hard tick species (Acari: Ixodidae), which is known to
occur in many Central and South American countries such as Venezuela, French Guiana,
Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama
and Belize (Jones et al. 1972). It has also been reported from Argentina (Boero and
Delpietro 1971) and Suriname (Keirans 1985).
Adults of A. calcaratum primarily feed on anteaters (Myrmecophaga and Tamandua spp.), but
have sporadically also been found on Procyon cancrivorus (Brazil), Choloepus hoffmanni,
and Mazama americana. Nymphal A. calcaratum were collected from Brazilian birds (Jones et
al. 1972).
Although the main Edentata genera associated with this tick are known to inhabit the
Peruvian Amazonian basin (Eisenberg and Redford 1999), the occurrence of A. calcaratum has
never been recorded in Peru (da Fonseca 1960; Dale 1977; Dale and Venero 1977; Walter
1990). This species was also not included in the most recent list of known Peruvian
Amblyomma taxa (Need et al, 1991).
In July 2000, 12 adult Amblyomma specimens (3 females and 9 males) were collected from a
Tamandua tetradactyla in the Caserio Menor de Nunhan Jalca, Fundo Santa Rosa (Bagua
Grande, Utcubamba, Amazonas, Peru). The ticks were identified as Amblyomma calcaratum
according to taxonomic keys (Jones et al. 1972) and voucher specimens were deposited at
the U. S. National Tick Collection (RML # 123271).
Furthermore, partial sequences of the mitochondrial 12SrRNA (Beati and Keirans 2001) and
nuclear 28SrRNA genes (Klompen et al. 2000) were obtained from 6 specimens and compared to
48 homologous Amblyomma sequences from our database (Beati and Keirans, unpublished data).
The six 28SrDNA nucleic acid sequences were identical (GenBank accession number: AY225324)
and indistinguishable from the sequence of A. nodosum Neumann, 1899 (GenBank accession
number: AY225323). However, the six 12SrDNA sequences (Genbank accession number: AY225322)
differed from the A. nodosum sequence by 9.8% (Genbank accession number: AY225321). This
finding is in agreement with the relative morphological relatedness of A. calcaratum and
A. nodosum.
Little is known about the relationships between ticks and tick-borne diseases in South
America. However, Amblyomma species are major vectors of pathogens of medical and
veterinary interest throughout the world. Until our knowledge of associations between
South American Amblyomma and pathogenic organisms improves, it is therefore important to
gather precise information on the geographical distribution of each species.
Acknowledgements
Portions of this research were supported by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases grant AI 40729 to JEK and Fundación Instituto Hipólito Unanue, Lima, Perú.
Bibliografía
1. División de
Entomología, Instituto Nacional de Salud y Sección de Entomología, Instituto de
Medicina Tropical "Daniel A. Carrrión", UNMSM, Lima, Perú.
2. Vector Ecology Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
3. Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro,
GA, USA.
* Address of corresponding author:
Vector Ecology Laboratory-Yale University
60 College Street-room 600
New Haven, CT 06520 (USA)
phone: 1-203-785-3223
fax: 1-203-785-3604
e-mail: lorenza.beati@yale.edu
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