Ixodes kazakstani Olenev & Sorokoumov, 1934

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 kazakstani Olenev & Sorokoumov, 1934

Recoeded hosts.

Mammalia: Apodemus sylvaticus (wood mouse) ( Filippova 1977), Canis familiaris (domestic dog) ( Kovalev et al. 2018), Dryomys nitedula (Pallas) (forest dormouse), Lepus tolai Pallas (tolai hare), Mus musculus (house mouse), Nothocricetulus migratorius (grey dwarf hamster) ( Filippova 1977).

Aves: Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus (common pheasant) ( Filippova 1977).

Recorded locations

(Fig. 9 ). Kazakhstan: Betpak-Dala – the valley of the Chu River ( Ushakova 1961), Tian Shan – the valley of the Ili River ( Ushakova 1958; Kovalev et al. 2018), outskirts of Jarkent ( Olenev and Sorokoumov 1934; Pomerantsev 1950). Kyrgyzstan: the Issyk-Kul basin ( Filippova 1958 b; Kovalev et al. 2018), the valley of the Talas River ( Olenev and Sorokoumov 1934; Pomerantsev 1950; Grebenyuk 1966; Lyashko 1973; Kovalev et al. 2018).

Ecology and other information.

Ixodes kazakstani is a tick species with a disjunctive relict range limited by Southeastern Kazakhstan and neighboring territories of Kyrgyzstan ( Filippova 1977). The patchy arrangement of its range can be explained, above all, by associations of this tick mainly with the animals dwelling in tugai forests which also create humidity conditions in the soil suitable for this tick species ( Filippova 1958 b). Also, there are some cases of parasitism on livestock and humans ( Lyashko 1973; Filippova 1977). On livestock it was found in few numbers among mass parasitism of other tick species.

Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear genes showed that I. kazakstani belongs to the I. ricinus group ( Kovalev et al. 2018) and clusters with such members of the I. ricinus group as I. apronophorus and I. kashmiricus ( Numan et al. 2022) . Ixodes kazakstani can presumably exemplify links between Nearctic and Palearctic species, so further studies of genetic sequences of I. kazakstani are necessary to understand better evolutionary connections between more tick species in the I. ricinus group.

The type specimens are stored at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and include the holotype: female; Kazakhstan, Jarkent, collected from human dress, 20. VI. 1932, coll. Kirin; AL I 536. Description - Filippova 1977: 283–290 (female, male, nymph, larva) ( Filippova 2008).

Figures

Figure 9. Map of Russia and neighboring countries showing the locations where Ixodes kazakstani was reported.