Answer to Case 679

 Answer toParasite Case of the Week 679:Haemaphysalissp. Congratulations to Blaine Mathison, Khaled Itani, Olugbenga Samuel Babatunde, Souti Prasad Sarkhel, Robyn Nadolny, Marc Couturier, @TickReport, and Alvaro Faccini-Martinez for the correct identification! It can be tricky to differentiateHaemaphysalisfrom fromRhipicephalus, so I created the following pictorial guide to help illustrate the key features. In the end, it all comes down to a difference of angles - inHaemaphysalis,the outward facing angle is from the palps, whereas withRhipicephalus,it ' s from the basis capituli. Both of these ticks also have festoons and their mouthparts are as long as the basis capituli, so they otherwise have a very similar appearance. As Blaine points out, there are several members of this genus that are found in the United States, including the newly-invasiveH. longicornis,or Asian longhorned tick. There arent ' enough features shown in this case to get to the species level, but if you ever have a specimen in your laboratory, you can use this recently published KEY for assistance. Also, if you ' d like to learn more aboutH. longicornis, the CDC has a brief overview HERE. The USDA also has a greatsite onH. longicornisthat includes a regularly-updated map of the tick ' s distribution throughout the United States.Thanks again to Florida Fan for donating this case!
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs