Ixodes kaiseri Arthur, 1957

Fedorov, Denis & Hornok, Sándor, 2024, Checklist of hosts, illustrated geographical range, and ecology of tick species from the genus Ixodes (Acari, Ixodidae) in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, ZooKeys 1201, pp. 255-343 : 255-343

Ixodes kaiseri Arthur, 1957

Ixodes kaiseri Arthur, 1957: 578; Morel and Aubert 1975: 99.

Ixodes bakonyensis Babos: Morel and Aubert 1975: 99.

Ixodes vulpinus Babos: Morel and Aubert 1975: 99.

Recorded hosts.

Mammalia: Canis familiaris (domestic dog), Erinaceus concolor Martin (southern white-breasted hedgehog), Erinaceus europaeus (European hedgehog), Erinaceus roumanicus Barrett-Hamilton (northern white-breasted hedgehog), Felis chaus Schreber (jungle cat), Felis lybica (African wildcat), Hyaena hyaena (Linnaeus) (striped hyena), Hystrix indica Kerr (Indian crested porcupine), Lepus europaeus (brown hare), Mustela eversmanii (steppe polecat), Meles meles (Eurasian badger), Nyctereutes procyonoides (common raccoon dog), Vulpes corsac (corsac fox), Vulpes vulpes (red fox) ( Filippova 1977; Tsapko 2017).

Recorded locations

(Fig. 26 ). Russia: southwestern peripheries of the Central Russian Upland and also Rostov Oblast ( Khametova et al. 2018) and Stavropol Krai ( Tsapko 2017) and the North Caucasus – the outskirts of Grozny (Chechnya) ( Filippova 1977, 1999; Tsapko 2017, 2020) and Nogaysky District (Dagestan) ( Tsapko 2017). Ukraine: outskirts of Kyiv ( Akimov and Nebogatkin 2016) and the south of Ukraine, in particular Askania-Nova Nature Reserve ( Filippova 1977), the North-Western seacoast of the Black Sea ( Matyukhin 2017), Crimea ( Filippova 1977). Moldova: Lozova, Ivancea, Doibani, Leova, Etulia, reedbeds of the low Dniester and Pruth ( Filippova 1977; Uspenskaya et al. 2006). Georgia: the outskirts of Tbilisi, Lagodekhi Nature Reserve ( Filippova 1977), Eldari Steppe ( Tsapko 2017). Armenia: Gegharkunik Province (rural locality Geghamashen) ( Tsapko 2017), Aragats mountain range ( Dilbaryan and Poghosyan 2018). Azerbaijan: Mil plain ( Filippova and Uspenskaya 1973), Beylagan District, Zangilan District, Aghjabadi District, Martuni Province, Shaki District ( Tsapko 2017). Kazakhstan: West Kazakhstan Region, Dzungarian Alatau – outskirts of the rural locality Topolëvka and the Koksu district ( Ushakova et al. 1976; Filippova 1999). Kyrgyzstan ( Fedorova 2012 b).

Ecology and other information.

Ixodes kaiseri is a typical nidicolous parasite of carnivores and also hedgehogs and porcupines which is morphologically very similar to I. crenulatus and has common sympatric zones with this species along its range ( Filippova 1999). Its range itself is patchy and disjunctive areas of sympatry for both of these species are found in southeastern Europe - Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula as well as in Russia - the southwestern extremities of the Central Russian Upland and the Northern Caucasus; then after a long gap - in Western Kazakhstan and again after a big gap - in the Dzungarian Alatau ( Filippova 1999). Judging by literature, it is also known from Egypt and Israel ( Arthur 1957, 1960, 1965). As Filippova and Uspenskaya (1973) assumed, its distribution in the Middle East and also other parts of Asia can be wider than it is known at present, which was already confirmed by the findings of this tick species in Turkey ( Orkun and Karaer 2018) and Xinjiang in China ( Zhao et al. 2019) near the border with Kazakhstan and the Dzungarian Alatau and hence, it is possible that the sympatry of these two species is more widespread. This is also supported by literature data, because until the 1970 s in the territory of the former USSR I. kaiseri was not differentiated from I. hexagonus and I. crenulatus ( Emelyanova 1979; Filippova 1999).

These species not only inhabit the same territory and inhabit the same biotopes in some places but can also parasitize one host individual at the same time ( Tsapko 2017). It is also important to note that according to Filippova’s opinion (1999), the territorial signs of the ranges of these two species, their biotope and host-parasite relationships indicate that the range of I. crenulatus (which is predominantly connected with marmots and their burrows in steppe and forest-steppe zones) over the most part of its distribution has a Central Asian origin, while the range of I. kaiseri (mainly the parasite of carnivores and occurring in their burrows) is supposedly of European origin.

Figures

Figure 26. Map of Russia and neighboring countries showing the locations where Ixodes kaiseri was reported.