Ixodes angustus Neumann, 1899

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 angustus Neumann, 1899

Ixodes angustus Neumann, 1899: 136.

Recorded hosts.

Mammalia: Alexandromys oeconomus (tundra vole), Craseomys rufocanus (grey red-backed vole), Eutamias sibiricus (Siberian chipmunk), Mus musculus (house mouse), Myodes rutilus (northern red-backed vole), Ochotona alpina (alpine pika), Rattus norvegicus (brown rat), Sicista caudata Thomas (long-tailed birch mouse), Sorex araneus (common shrew), Sorex minutus (Eurasian pygmy shrew) ( Filippova 1977).

Recorded locations

(Fig. 18 ). Russia: outskirts of Magadan and the lower reaches of the Kukhtui River, Okhotsky district – the northernmost points of record of I. angustus in the Palearctic ( Belyaev 1963); Kamchatka Peninsula – outskirts of the villages Tigil and Ust-Khayryuzovo ( Pomerantsev 1950), the valley of the Kamchatka River to Ust-Kamchatsk ( Serdjukova 1956), the eastern coast of the Kamchatka peninsula to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( Speranskaya 1958), the valley of the rivers Avacha and Pinachevskaya ( Paramonov et al. 1966); Middle Outer Manchuria ( Filippova 1977); Sovetsko-Gavansky district ( Emelyanova and Koshkin 1962); Sikhote-Alin ( Belyaev and Filippova 1976); Sakhalin – Novoaleksandrovka (former Konuma), the valley of the Lyutoga River ( Pomerantsev 1950) and the Cape Patience ( Skrynnik 1950; Asanuma 1951; Violovich 1958, 1960; Savitsky and Okuntsova 1967; Timofeeva and Kon’kova 1971); Kuril Islands – Simushir ( Pomerantsev 1950; Violovich 1958, 1960; Timofeeva and Kon’kova 1971).

Ecology and other information.

Ixodes angustus occurs in the Palearctic predominantly on the East Asian coast and also in the Nearctic – Canada and the USA ( Filippova 1977). In the Russian Far East in Outer Manchuria, the islands and along the main ridges of the Sikhote-Alin it inhabits a wide range of biotopes: various types of mixed and broad-leaved forests in mountains and valleys, as well as tundra and rocks, stone outcrops, coastal biotopes, meadow and river valleys ( Speranskaya 1958; Violovich 1958; Emelyanova and Koshkin 1962; Belyaev 1963; Paramonov et al. 1966; Savitsky and Okuntsova 1967; Belyaev and Filippova 1976).

Ixodes angustus is considered a nidicolous ectoparasite of rodents and shrews because it was found not only on hosts but also in their burrows ( Filippova 1977), although there are documented cases on this species biting humans without contacts with burrows ( Cooley 1946). As a parasite which is connected with rodents, and, like other rodent ticks, I. angustus plays a role in supporting natural foci of tick-borne infections such as anaplasmosis ( Yamborko and Eremeeva 2014) and the Lyme disease ( Peavey et al. 2000).

Although hyperparasitism is not common in Ixodes ticks, I. angustus belongs to a small number of species of the genus, in which this phenomenon was recorded ( Durden et al. 2018), when a male was feeding from a female attached to a red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus . The other Ixodes species in which males have been recorded to attach and feed on engorging conspecific females include I. holocyclus in Australia and I. pilosus in South Africa ( Oliver et al. 1986).

Figures

Figure 18. Map of Russia and neighboring countries showing the locations where Ixodes angustus was reported.