Ixodes eldaricus Djaparidze, 1950

Fedorov, Denis & Hornok, Sándor, 2024, Checklist of hosts, illustrated geographical range, and ecology of tick species from the genus Ixodes (Acari, Ixodidae) in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, ZooKeys 1201, pp. 255-343 : 255-343

Ixodes eldaricus Djaparidze, 1950

Ixodes eldaricus Dzhaparidze, 1950: 117 .

Ixodes tatei Arthur, 1959: 108; Clifford et al. 1973: 489.

Recorded hosts.

Aves: Alectoris chukar (Gray) (chukar partridge), Anthus campestris (Linnaeus) (tawny pipit), Athene noctua (Scopoli) (little owl), Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus) (black-headed gull), Coccothraustes coccothraustes (Linnaeus) (hawfinch), Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus) (western jackdaw), Curruca communis (Latham) (common whitethroat), Emberiza bruniceps Brandt (red-headed bunting), Galerida cristata (Linnaeus) (crested lark), Lullula arborea (Linnaeus) (woodlark), Luscinia svecica (Linnaeus) (bluethroat), Melanocorypha bimaculata (Ménétrés) (bimaculated lark), Monticola solitarius (Linnaeus) (blue rock thrush), Oenanthe sp. (wheatear), Passer domesticus (Linnaeus) (house sparrow), Perdix perdix (grey partridge), Petronia petronia (Linnaeus) (rock sparrow), Phoenicurus erythronotus (Eversmann) (Eversmann’s redstart), Phylloscopus griseolus (Blyth) (sulphur-bellied warbler), Pica pica (Linnaeus) (Eurasian magpie), Sitta tephronota Sharpe (Eastern rock nuthatch), Turdus merula (common blackbird) ( Filippova 1977).

Mammalia: Crocidura leucodon (bicolored shrew), Meriones persicus (Blanford) (Persian jird), Mus musculus (house mouse), Nesokia indica (Gray) (short-tailed bandicoot rat), grey dwarf hamster Nothocricetulus migratorius (Pallas) , Rattus pyctoris (Hodgson) (Turkestan rat), Rhinolophus mehelyi (Mehely’s horseshoe bat) ( Filippova 1977).

Recorded locations

(Fig. 7 ). Russia: Dagestan and North Osetia-Alania ( Shatas 1957; Filippova 1977). Ukraine: Crimean Peninsula, in particular the Tarkhankut Peninsula and the Kara Dag ( Filippova 1974). Georgia: the Shiraki Plain and the Vashlovani Nature Reserve ( Djaparidze 1950, 1960). Armenia: Vayots Dzor Province – the rural locality Herher ( Ogandzhanyan 1959). Azerbaijan: Karabakh Plateau – Lachin District and Hadrut District, Adzhynokhur Steppe ( Ogandzhanyan 1959; Filippova 1977). Kazakhstan: Dzungarian Alatau ( Ushakova et al. 1976) and Trans-Ili Alatau ( Filippova 1977). Kyrgyzstan: Terskey Ala-too Range ( Filippova 1974). Turkmenistan: the Kopet Dagh – the valley of the Chandyr River, Magtymguly, Gökdepe District, outskirts of Ashgabad, Köytendag Range, Bayramaly ( Kerbabaev 1960; Kochkareva et al. 1971; Berdyev 1973; Scherbinina 1973). Uzbekistan: Termez ( Filippova 1977). Tajikistan: Hisar Range, Varzob gorge, outskirts of Dushanbe ( Filippova 1977).

Ecology and other information.

Ixodes eldaricus is a little studied endophilic tick species which is mainly a parasite of ground-feeding birds although nymphs and larvae, besides birds, were also found on small mammals – rodents and shrews. It usually inhabits deciduous mountain forests and shrub thickets in mountain river valleys. The vertical distribution range of its occurrence varies from 300 (Ashgabat) to 1800 m (Terskey Ala-too Range and Hisar Range) a. s. l. ( Filippova 1977).

Briefly described by a female from the east of Georgia (type locality: the Shiraki Plain), I. eldaricus was later found in Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the male, nymph descriptions were based on the material from Azerbaijan ( Ogandzhanyan 1959). The holotype female described from the grey partridge is stored at the Institute of Zoology of Ilia State University. The above findings from post-Soviet territories are known from the Crimea, as well as the Causasus and Central Asia. The majority of samples are stored at the collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Additionally, it is important to note that in Crimea this tick species is considered disappearing ( Nebogatkin 1998) due to anthropogenic pressure followed by destruction of its habitats and decline in its host populations ( Uspensky 2021).

Figures

Figure 7. Map of Russia and neighboring countries showing the locations where Ixodes eldaricus was reported.