Ticks (Ixodida: Argasidae, Ixodidae) are the main arthropod vectors of disease in Central Europe, including Germany. One species, Ixodes ricinus , dominates the tick fauna throughout this area and, as such, is justifiably the most common species studied. However, this concentration on a single species has led to the neglect of a variety of other species, also often common on their wild hosts, and also involved in the natural, zoonotic cycles of disease. In this contribution we provide a checklist of the species currently known to occur in Germany. The information summarized under the endemic species includes general distribution, hosts, and basic ecology, as well as each species’ medical and veterinary significance. Our aim is to bring the diversity of species present to the attention of the research community in the hope that the more neglected species will also be integrated into epidemiological models of the tick-borne diseases present.

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An annotated checklist of the ticks (Acari: Ixodida) of Germany

Morphological and molecular data on the dermal microfilariae of a species of Cercopithifilaria from a dog in Sicily

Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Ixodida, Ixodidae) as intermediate host of a canine neglected filarial species with dermal microfilariae.

In spite of its wide distribution among dogs and the evidence of its implication as a zoonotic agent, scant information is available on the biology of Acanthocheilonema reconditum (Spirurida, Onchocercidae). In this study, blood samples from 152 Sicilian dogs were examined for A. reconditum microfilariae at the beginning of the study and 1 year later. The periodicity of microfilaraemia was investigated by bleeding 2 highly microfilaraemic dogs twice a day for 10 days and, later on, every 2 weeks for 1 year and a third animal every 3 h for 96 h. Fleas and ticks infesting dogs were collected and dissected for the detection of A. reconditum larvae. The prevalence of infestation was 11·2% (17/152) and 13·3% (16/120) at the beginning and at the end of the study, with a 1 year cumulative incidence of 5·9%. Although dogs bled twice a day showed a higher number of microfilariae in most of the morning samples, the absence of any circadian rhythm was suggested by data of the third experiment conducted by bleeding a dog every 3 h for 4 days. A. reconditum developing forms were detected in 5·1% (4/78) of dissected fleas, but not in any of the 272 ticks. The study provides new insights into the biology and ecology of this dog filarioid in its definitive and intermediate hosts.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182011002198

New insights into the ecology and biology of Acanthocheilonema reconditum (Grassi, 1889) causing canine subcutaneous filariosis.

Overview on Dirofilaria immitis in the Americas, with notes on other filarial worms infecting dogs.

This paper reports the development of the canid filarial worm, Dipetalonema dracunculoides, in the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus by determining whether development is similar within larval, nymphal and adult stages of infected ticks. This study demonstrates that only infected nymphal ticks can support the complete development of the filarial worm. Infected larval ticks are not suitable intermediate hosts, nor are infected adults. Development depends on some stage-specific property of the vector, and the maturation to the infective stage is stimulated during the course of the nymphal-adult moult.

J.A. Rodríguez-Rodríguez

Papers

Stage-specific development of a filarial nematode (Dipetalonema dracunculoides) in vector ticks.