Molecular Characterization of from Environmental Samples Collected in North-Eastern Poland.

Recent years have witnessed an increase in the population of in Central Europe. The genetic profile of this ectoparasite has not been studied in Poland to date. The aim of the present study was to confirm the presence of in north-eastern Poland and to characterize the examined population with the use of molecular methods. Deer keds were collected between June and July 2019 in six natural, mixed forests. A fragment of the rRNA 16S gene was used as a marker to identify by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). DNA samples were sequenced in the last step. Six new locations of were confirmed. No significant differences were observed in the sex ratios of and (-value = 0.74; -value = 0.65). Significant differences were noted between the total size of and populations (-value < 0.001). The similarity to GenBank sequences ranged from 95.56% to 100%. The obtained nucleotide sequences were very closely related to sequences from Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Japan. Molecular analyses revealed considerable genetic diversity, which could indicate that various ectoparasite lineages have spread throughout Europe.