Genus Argas

Argas spp. are found in many parts of Pakistan, including Punjab, Sindh, and KP. These ticks commonly infest domestic fowl and ducks, especially in sheds containing these birds. Four species of this genus, Argas abdussalami Hoogstraal and McCarthy, 1965, Argas persicus (Oken, 1818), Argas reflexus (Fabricius, 1794), and Argas sp. “ rousetti,” have been reported in Pakistan (Fig. 3) (Yasin & Abdussalam 1958; Hoogstraal & McCarthy 1965b; Buriro & Akbar 1978; Hoogstraal 1985; Qamar et al. 2009; Karim et al. 2017; Ali et al. 2019, 2023c; Zahid et al. 2021). Morphological identification of our collections revealed the presence of Ar. persicus and yielded the first report of Argas hermanni Audouin, 1826 (Fig. 3).