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Wikipedia / Ixodes

Ixodes is a genus of hard-bodied ticks (family Ixodidae). It includes important disease vectors of animals and humans (tick-borne disease), and some species (notably Ixodes holocyclus) inject toxins that can cause paralysis. Some ticks in this genus may transmit the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi responsible for causing Lyme disease. Additional organisms that may be transmitted by Ixodes are parasites from the genus Babesia, which cause babesiosis, and bacteria from the related genus Anaplasma, which cause anaplasmosis.

Ecology and distribution

Ixodes species have a near-cosmopolitan distribution and occur in all major biogeographic realms, including Antarctica, where they are associated with seabirds and penguin rookeries. The genus parasitizes a wide range of vertebrate hosts worldwide, including mammals, birds, and reptiles. Rodents and passerine birds are among the most commonly recorded hosts, especially in the Americas.

Description and systematics

Ixodes is the sole representative of the Prostriata clade of the Ixodidae. Prostriate ticks are distinguished from the Metastriata with reference to the position of the anal groove. In Ixodes species, the groove loops anterior to the anus, whereas in Ambloymma, for example, the groove is positioned posterior to the anus. Ixodes species are small to medium-sized ticks, with a usually pyriform (pear-shaped) or ovate body profile. Mouthparts are anterior in both sexes, but usually long and slender in females, and short in males. Males have sclerotised adanal plates. Ixodes species are eyeless.

Taxonomy

Ixodes contains 274 species. Classification, recognition and phylogenetic resolution of the Ixodes subgenera is ongoing. As many as 24 subgenera have been recognised by different authors. All are included here for completeness.

Subgenera

  • Afrixodes Morel, 1966

  • Alloixodes Černý, 1969

  • Amerixodes Morel, 1998

  • Australixodes Barker & Barker et al., 2023

  • Ceratixodes Neumann, 1902

  • Coxixodes Schulze, 1941

  • Endopalpiger Schulze, 1935

  • Eschatocephalus Frauenfeld, 1853

  • Exopalpiger Schulze, 1935

  • Filippoviella Apanaskevich, Greiman, Fedorov, Ahmed & Barker

  • Haemixodes Kohls & Clifford, 1967

  • Indixodes Morel, 1998

  • Ixodes Latreille, 1795

  • Ixodiopsis Filippova (1957)

  • Lepidixodes Schulze, 1935

  • Monoindex Emelyanova & Kozlovskaya, 1968

  • Multidentatus Neumann, 1904

  • Partipalpiger Hoogstraal et al., 1973

  • Pholeoixodes Schulze, 1942

  • Pomerantzevella Feider, 1965

  • Scaphixodes Schulze, 1941

  • Sternalixodes Schulze, 1935

  • Trichotoixodes Reznik, 1961

  • Xiphixodes Schulze, 1941

Species

Fossil Species

Three fossil species of Ixodes are known from amber deposits ranging from the Cretaceous to the Eocene:

Notes

Additional Readings

Refer to the following external links for recent changes to Ixodes taxonomy:

References