The Iranian Hyalomma(Acari: Ixodidae) with molecular evidencesto understand taxonomic statusof species complexes

Hosseini Chegeni, Asadollah; Hosseini, Reza; Telmadarraiy, Zakkyeh; Abdigoudarzi, Mohammad

doi:10.22073/pja.v8i4.49892

The Iranian Hyalomma(Acari: Ixodidae) with molecular evidencesto understand taxonomic statusof species complexes

Authors

Asadollah Hosseini Chegeni ¹

Reza Hosseini

Zakkyeh Telmadarraiy ²

Mohammad Abdigoudarzi ³

¹ Department of Plant Protection,Pol-e Dokhtar Higher Education Center, Lorestan University, Pol-e Dokhtar, Iran; E-mail: hosseinichegeni@gmail.com

² Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; E-mail:telmadarraiy@tums.ac.ir

³ Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Department of Parasitology, Reference Laboratory of Ticks and Tick Borne Diseases, Karaj, Iran; E-mail: m.abdi@rvsri.ac.ir

10.22073/pja.v8i4.49892

Abstract

The identification of Hyalomma is a challenging issue in the systematics of ixodid ticks. Here, we examined 960 adult males of Hyalomma tick from 10 provinces of Iran using morphological and molecular methods. PCR was carried out on 60 samples to amplify an ITS2 fragment of nuclear and a COI fragment of mitochondrial genomes. Nine species, namely H. aegyptium, H. anatolicum, H. asiaticum, H. scupense, H. dromedarii, H. excavatum, H. marginatum, H. rufipes and H. schulzei were identified. The validity of H. rufipes and H. excavatum can be challenged. We concluded that these species should be regarded as H. marginatum and H. anatolicum complexes, respectively. Furthermore, the taxonomic status of the two closely related H. anatolicum and H. asiaticum was confirmed as distinct species.

Keywords

Hyalomma

phylogenetic relationships

taxonomy

variation

Iran