Dermacentor (Anocentor) nitens Neumann, 1897

Benavides-Montaño, Javier Antonio, Betancourt-Echeverri, Jesus Antonio, Valencia, Gustavo López & Mesa-Cobo, Nora Cristina, 2022, A review of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Colombia: The risk of tick-borne diseases, Persian Journal of Acarology 11 (3), pp. 397-437 : 414

Dermacentor (Anocentor) nitens Neumann, 1897 ( Fig. 10)

The genus Dermacentor is represented by 35 species around the world (Lopez 2017). The species of this genus transmit different pathogens such as Ricketssia spp., Coxiella spp. , Anaplasma spp. , Francisella spp. and Babesia spp. (Lopez 2017) . There are eight species in the Neotropical region; four of them are exclusive to the Neotropic: D. imitans , D. nitens , (trioxenos), D. albipictus and D. nitens (monoxenos) ( Barros-Battesti et al. 2006). In Colombia, Dermacentor nitens is endemic and it has been reported in different localities of Cundinamarca, Meta, Boyacá, Antioquia, and Atlántico; such as Villeta (Cundinamarca), Restrepo and Villavicencio (Meta) on horses, Muzo, Mani, Trinidad (Boyacá) on humans, Medellin (Antioquia) on horses, Barranquilla (Atlantico) on donkeys ( Osorno-Mesa 1942; Wramc 1998). A female of D. imitans (RML 668550) in 1967 was found in Curiche Choco associated with humans and Tayassu pecari ( Wramc 1998; Guglielmone et al. 2006). Dermacentor nitens has been reported for tropical and subtropical regions in north, center and south America, including The Caribbean and Galapagos islands ( Yunker et al. 1986). The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has been detected in D. nitens collected from traction horses ( Gonçalves et al. 2014). Dermacentor nitens is a natural vector of Babesia caballi , one of the etiological agents of equine piroplasmosis in the Americas ( Schwint et al. 2008). Dermacentor nitens “common horse tick” has been found on cattle ( Reyes 1948), in association with the presence of babesiosis, theileriosis and anaplasmosis ( Luna 1958) in Monteria (Cordoba), Bugalagrande (Valle del Cauca) and Sumapaz ( Maurer 1969; Todorovic et al. 1970; Wells 1975; Tenter et al. 1988). In Córdoba, Tenter et al. (1988) found D. nitens in all the 13 farms they surveyed and A. cajennense in two of them. In their study, the serological prevalence using immunofluorescence was> 90% for B. caballi and T. equi and using the complement fixation (FC) test a prevalence of 41% for B. caballi and 65% to Theileria . equi ( Tenter et al. 1988) . Under usual circumstances, D. nitens is found on animals infected with babesiosis in Valle del Cauca, in association with A. cajennense and A. maculata . However, Dermacentor nitens is more predominant than A. cajennense ( Benavides-Montaño et al. 2018) . Horses that have to travel long distances are more prone to this tick ( Barros-Battesti et al. 2006; Álvarez and Bonilla 2007). This tick was described as a vector of A. platys and Rickettsia spp. Rickettsiae have been found in D. nitens collected from horses in the Tayrona National Natural Park ( Sierra et al. 2017). Ramirez (2014), employing molecular techniques (gen gltA), showed the existence of R. rickettsii and R. felis in D. nitens from samples collected in Villeta, Cundinamarca ( Ramírez 2014). Dermacentor nitens has been reported associated with A. maculatum from E. caballus and Mular assinus in Dagua –Valle del Cauca, and also collected from Bos taurus and B. indicus in different regions of Valle del Cauca, including Yotoco/Cordobita ( Benavides-Montaño et al. 2018). This domestic and wild tick poses a risk to human population due to its capacity to transmit hemoparasites and disease agents such as parvovirus, E. canis , B. vogeli , B. canis , A. phagocytophilum , A. platys , Toxoplasma gondii and Leishmania infantum ( Baneth 2014) .