First morphological and genetic report of the hard tick, Amblyomma tigrinum (Acari: Ixodidae) in the Andean cat, Leopardus jacobita

Abstract

The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita Cornalia 1865) is one of the rarest feline species in the world and one of the most threatened in America, where no ixodofauna are known to parasitize these small cats.  Here describe the morphological and genetic findings of hard tick specimens in an Andean cat.  Four hard tick specimens (2 females and 2 males) were collected from an Andean cat in the locality of Patacamaya, Department of La Paz, Bolivia.  DNA was extracted using 1 or 2 of the tick legs, causing minimal damage to the specimens.  Morphological and genetic characteristics corresponded to Amblyomma trigrinum, with an identity percentage of 99.43 %.  This research is the first morphological and genetic report of adult hard ticks of the species A. tigrinum parasitizing an Andean cat, extending the distribution of this tick to the Bolivian biogeographic region of high mountains and the Altiplano in the La Paz department, and emphasizes the circulation of this zoonotic parasite in the country.