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16 January 2017 First report of a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae), parasitizing a raptor in Canada
John D. Scott, Janet E. Foley, Monica R. Young, Lance A. Durden
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Abstract

We document the first report of a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, parasitizing an American Kestrel, Falco sparverius Linnaeus (Falconiformes: Falconidae), in Canada. A fully engorged I. scapularis nymph was collected from the base of the tongue of an American Kestrel nestling recovered at Mirabel, Québec. This nestling had recently fledged the nest, and was exposed to I. scapularis immatures that were host-seeking in the surrounding low-level vegetation. DNA barcoding was used to confirm the identification of the tick. Primers of the flagellin (fla) gene were employed to determine whether the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, was present in the I. scapularis nymph; the tick was negative. We provide the first report of I. scapularis parasitizing a raptor in Canada and, likewise, the first account of this tick species attached to the oral cavity of a bird. Moreover, this bird parasitism is the first documentation of a tick on a falconid bird in Canada.

© Systematic & Applied Acarology Society
John D. Scott, Janet E. Foley, Monica R. Young, and Lance A. Durden "First report of a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae), parasitizing a raptor in Canada," Systematic and Applied Acarology 22(2), 208-216, (16 January 2017). https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.22.2.5
Received: 21 September 2016; Accepted: 1 December 2016; Published: 16 January 2017
KEYWORDS
American kestrel
bird parasitism
blacklegged tick
Canada
DNA barcoding
Falco sparverius
Ixodes scapularis
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