New Locality Records of Ixodes granulatus and Ixodes vespertilionis (Acari: Ixodidae) From Tree-Shrews (Scandentia: Tupaiidae) and Bats (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in Laos.

ABSTRACT

Between May and June 2015, 512 bats, six rodents, and six tree-shrews were examined for ectoparasites in Vientiane and Khammouane Provinces, Laos. Thirty-seven ticks (33 females and four males) identified as Ixodes granulatus Supino were collected from four individuals of the Northern tree-shrew, Tupaia belangeri (Wagner) (ScandentiaTupaiidae), and one female of Ixodes vespertilionis Koch was collected from one individual of the Intermediate Leaf-nosed Bat, Hipposideros larvatus (Horsfield) (ChiropteraHipposideridae). This appears to be the first record of I. vespertilionis from Laos, as well as the first record of this host-parasite relationship in the Southeast Asia region.