Integrative taxonomic description of the chewing louse Tricholipeurus lipeuroides infesting Odocoileus virginianus veraecrucis white-tailed deer in Veracruz, Mexico.

Chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) represent a component of the ectoparasite fauna associated with large sized mammals as deers. However, the diversity of chewing louse species infesting deer remains to be fully characterized in the Neotropics. Little is known about the chewing lice infesting the extant fourteen subspecies of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Mexico. Known to infest white-tailed deer (WTD) in Canada and the United States (U.S.), Tricholipeurus lipeuroides is a chewing louse species that was originally described in the nineteenth century infesting O. v. mexicanus in Mexico. For the first time, infestation of O. v. veraecrucis, a Neotropical WTD subspecies in Mexico, with T. lipeuroides is reported herein. An integrative taxonomic approach was taken by combining morphological and molecular analyses to describe the T. lipeuroides infestion of O. v. veraecrucis. Ecological parameters of the T. lipeuroides infestations were also calculated. The prevalence was 91.7% of the 56 O. v. veraecrucis (29 females and 27 males) inspected while under chemical restraint that were sampled at 3 sites in the central region of Veracruz state in Mexico. The amplification and sequencing of previously reported T. lipeuroides Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I gene confirmed the identity of all the chewing louse life stages. These results are discussed in the context of comparative analyses on the emergence of novel chewing lice-deer associations.

Molecular detection of reptile-associated Borrelia in Boa constrictor (Squamata: Boidae) from Veracruz, Mexico.

The reptile-associated Borrelia represent a monophyletic group of bacteria transmitted by several species of hard ticks, which has been reported to only infect amphibians and reptiles in Eurasia and Middle East, however, this bacterial group has not been studied in North America. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of Borrelia spirochetes in blood samples of native reptiles of Mexico. Blood samples were directly obtained from individuals, DNA extractions were performed using Chelex-100. The Borrelia detection was performed by conventional PCR. From 102 reptiles tested, only five individuals of Boa constrictor were positive for the presence of DNA of the reptile-associated Borrelia group. Supported by phylogenetic analysis, this study presents the first record of these spirochetes group in Mexico, and initial evidence of B. constrictor as a host of this group.