Morphological abnormality in larvae of Amblyomma oblongoguttatum (Acari: Ixodidae)

Abstract

Amblyomma oblongoguttatum is a tick that is a parasite of mammals and
its preferred hosts are the wild pigs, tapirs and small rodents, being
collected also parasitizing domestic dogs and eventually humans. An
Amblyomma oblongoguttatum larva with morphological abnormality was
collected along with other specimens (larvae and females) of this species
and with morphologically normal Amblyomma naponense nymphs in a
wild pig - Pecari tacaju - in a rural area of the state of Rondônia / Brazil,
during research of tick-borne disease environments. The morphologically
abnormal specimen showed a bifurcation of the posterior region of the
opisthosoma, without other altered morphological characters. This is the
first record of morphological abnormality at the larval stage of
Amblyomma oblongoguttatum.