Estudo do Ciclo Biológico de Ornithodoros mimon (Acari: Argasidae) em condições de laboratório

Abstract

Ornithodoros mimon Kohls, Clifford & Jones, 1969 is an argasid tick, originally described from larvae collected on bats from Bolivia and Uruguay. In Brazil the species is aggressive to humans and animals. Nymphs and adults of O. mimon were collected from the roof of a residence in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil, whose residents were bitten by ticks. Once in the laboratory, they were fed rabbits and maintained in biological oxygen demand incubator at 27 ºC ± 1 ºC and 90% ± 10% relative humidity. The females, after mating, laid eggs that resulted in larvae that were identified by the original description and also by the paratypes examination (RML 50271-50274) deposited at the United State National Tick Collection, Georgia, GA, USA. The life cycle of this species was obtained through the acquisition of two generations of ticks (F1 and F2) in the laboratory using rodents and rabbits as hosts. The biological parameters of larva, nymph and adult stages of both generations were observed and recorded from infestations in the laboratory hosts. Larvae showed a profile of feeding for days on the host, while the nymphs and adults for few minutes. It was observed molt from first nymphal instar (N1) to second nymphal instar (N2) without blood meal. The species was successfully colonized and its life cycle was elucidated for the first time. Thus, the findings obtained in this study have contributed with information for better knowledge of the species, and provides subsidies for maintenance of the colony in the laboratory.