Abstract
Specimens of Amblyomma oudemansi (Neumann, 1910) were collected in Papua New Guinea from an endangered monotreme, Zaglossus bruijni (Peters & Doria), the western long-beaked echidna. These ticks were compared morphologically and molecularly with species formerly assigned to Aponomma Neumann, 1899 (now included in Bothriocroton Keirans, King, & Sharrad, 1994 or Amblyomma Koch, 1844), and a phylogeny was generated. Based on our results, we reassign this tick to Bothriocroton, as B. oudemansi (Neumann, 1910) n. comb. Original descriptions are provided for the female and the nymph of this species and the male is redescribed. A revised list of all Bothriocroton records and holdings in the US National Tick Collection is also provided.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr M. Hastriter (Brigham Young University, Utah) and Dr D.D. Wright (Wildlife Conservation Society, Goroka, Papua New Guinea) for coordinating efforts to collect tick specimens and data in New Guinea. We also thank Dr B. Brugge of the Amsterdam Zoology Museum for making the types of B. oudemansi available to us for comparison and Drs S.Vives and W. Krissinger for allowing us to use their scanning electron microscope.
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Beati, L., Keirans, J.E., Durden, L.A. et al. Bothriocroton oudemansi (Neumann, 1910) n. comb. (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae), an ectoparasite of the western long-beaked echidna in Papua New Guinea: redescription of the male and first description of the female and nymph. Syst Parasitol 69, 185–200 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-007-9115-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-007-9115-5