Vecchi Mariah O M, Ramos Rafael Antonio Nascimento, Bitencourth Karla, Vecchi Maurício B, Alves Maria Alice S
Department of Ecology, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Laboratory of Ticks and Other Apterous Arthropods, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Parasitol Res. 2023 May;122(5):1255-1259. doi: 10.1007/s00436-023-07813-7. Epub 2023 Mar 16.
Ticks (Ixodida) are ecologically important ectoparasites that may impact human health and economic activities. Parasitoid wasps are natural enemies of ticks and a potential option for its biological control. In the present study, we recorded parasitism of the nymphs of the tick Amblyomma nodosum by the parasitoid wasp Ixodiphagus hookeri. The ticks, in turn, were parasitizing white-bearded manakins, Manacus manacus (Passeriformes: Pipridae) in the União Biological Reserve, one of the last major remnants of lowland rainforest in Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil. During the collection of ectoparasites from two manakins in this reserve, 20-30 parasitoid wasps hatched spontaneously from two of the ticks collected. The species of the tick nymphs and adult wasps were identified using morphological traits and molecular analyses. This record is the first documented case of I. hookeri parasitizing A. nodosum and the first time that parasitoid wasps have been found in ticks parasitizing birds in Brazil. This is also the first record of Ixodiphagus from southeastern Brazil in more than a century, with the only other record dating back to 1914. The record presented here provides valuable new information on the biology of this tick and its parasitoids, and new insights into this interspecific interaction. Further research on these vertebrate-tick-wasp interactions will be necessary to better understand the respective roles of the organisms involved in these processes.
蜱虫（硬蜱目）是具有重要生态意义的体外寄生虫，可能会影响人类健康和经济活动。寄生蜂是蜱虫的天敌，是对其进行生物防治的一个潜在选择。在本研究中，我们记录了寄生蜂胡氏蜱虱螯蜂对结节钝缘蜱若虫的寄生情况。而这些蜱虫又寄生在巴西东南部里约热内卢州低地雨林最后一批主要残余地之一的尤尼奥生物保护区的白须侏儒鸟（雀形目：侏儒鸟科）身上。在从该保护区的两只侏儒鸟身上采集体外寄生虫时，从采集到的两只蜱虫中自发孵化出了20 - 30只寄生蜂。利用形态特征和分子分析确定了蜱虫若虫和成年蜂的种类。这一记录是胡氏蜱虱螯蜂寄生结节钝缘蜱的首个有文献记载的案例，也是首次在巴西发现寄生在寄生于鸟类的蜱虫体内的寄生蜂。这也是一个多世纪以来巴西东南部首次记录到蜱虱螯蜂属，上一次记录可追溯到1914年。此处呈现的记录为这种蜱虫及其寄生蜂的生物学特性提供了宝贵的新信息，以及对这种种间相互作用的新见解。有必要对这些脊椎动物 - 蜱虫 - 黄蜂的相互作用进行进一步研究，以更好地了解参与这些过程的生物各自所起的作用。
