| interspecific differences in the movements of female ticks on reptiles. | movements of females of two reptile ticks, amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri were studied to determine whether the behaviour of the species on hosts was similar or different. experiments were conducted to determine if the movement of females on hosts prior to mating was influenced by the delayed attachment of conspecific males. a field experiment was also undertaken to determine whether data obtained during laboratory experiments reflected the behaviour of females on hosts in the field. ... | 1992 | 1587690 |
| a comparison of the reproductive parameters of females of two reptile tick species. | in comparisons of females of two reptile tick species aponomma hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum, ap. hydrosauri was initially larger, and after mating on the host engorged faster and remained attached for a shorter time before completing engorgement and detaching. amb. limbatum had a longer period of engorgement, and achieved a greater engorged weight. engorged amb. limbatum females laid significantly more eggs than equivalent sized ap. hydrosauri. although the two species are ecologically simi ... | 1991 | 1787031 |
| reproductive interactions between two australian reptile tick species. | in south australia the two tick species amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri share the same common reptile host species, but have allopatric distributions which abut along a narrow parapatric boundary. reproductive interference is a mechanism that has previously been suggested could contribute to maintaining the boundary. populations of each species were established in pens within the range of aponomma hydrosauri. pens held either each species alone, or the two species together. the perfor ... | 1994 | 7628259 |
| host-seeking behaviour by australian ticks (acari: ixodidae) with differing host specificities. | ticks generally detach from their hosts into sites where they are later exposed to host species which may or may not be suitable for infestation. the question of how four species of ixodid ticks, with differing specificities, behave towards such potential host species was examined. observations of the generalists, aponomma hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum and the specialists, aponomma fimbriatum and aponomma concolor, showed that the generalists were attracted to a wider range of potential host ... | 1995 | 7641569 |
| influence of environmental factors on oviposition and egg development in amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri (acari: ixodidae). | this study examined the influence of temperature and light on the length of the pre-oviposition period of engorged females of two australian ixodid ticks, amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri. the hatching success and development time of eggs of both species were also compared at different temperatures and relative humidities. darkness was found to have no effect on the duration of the pre-oviposition time or reproductive output of females of either species. in contrast, the preoviposition ... | 1994 | 8021110 |
| transmission of the blood parasite hemolivia mariae between its lizard and tick hosts. | the haemogregarine hemolivia mariae is found in the erythrocytes of a natural population of the lizard tiliqua rugosa. it infects two tick species, amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri, which parasitise lizards. in laboratory experiments, engorged amb. limbatum nymphs from infected lizards transmitted the haemogregarine to uninfected lizards significantly more often than engorged ap. hydrosauri nymphs. dissections of larvae and nymphs of both species fed on the same infected hosts showed t ... | 1999 | 10494815 |
| ultrastructure studies on post-oocyst development of the lizard hemogregarine hemolivia mariae in the tick amblyomma limbatum. | the ultrastructural features of the development of hemolivia mariae, a blood parasite of the australian lizard, tiliqua rugosa, from sporokinetes to sporozoites in their vector tick amblyomma limbatum are described. sporokinetes, released from oocysts, re-establish themselves in tick-gut epithelial cells within a parasitophorous vacuole, the wall of which becomes evaginating and anastomosing and is underlined extensively by endoplasmic reticulum. the sporozoites forming within the encysting spor ... | 2000 | 10894472 |
| ultrastructure of hemolivia mariae gamonts in the blood of the lizard tiliqua rugosa and their development to oocyst stage in the tick amblyomma limbatum. | the ultrastructural features of the development of hemolivia mariae from intra-erythrocytic gamonts in their host, the australian lizard tiliqua rugosa, to oocysts containing sporokinetes in their vector, the tick amblyomma limbatum, are described. mature intra-erythrocytic gamonts, as well as gamonts ingested by the tick were encased in a thick (30 nm) capsule with distinct suture sites at each of the two apices. in the only image of a presumed syzygy, both partners were still encased. further ... | 2000 | 10935907 |
| prevalence and intensity of the blood parasite hemolivia mariae in a field population of the skink tiliqua rugosa. | the impacts of virulent parasites on humans or domestic animals are well documented. less is known of the impact of parasites in natural host-parasite associations. a population of the australian sleepy lizard tiliqua rugosa is infected with the blood microparasite hemolivia mariae, which is transmitted by the ectoparasitic tick amblyomma limbatum. in most infected lizards a very small proportion, usually < 1%, of red blood cells are infected. a study of the prevalence of the microparasite in th ... | 2000 | 10952265 |
| influence of temperature and relative humidity on the moulting success of amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri (acari: ixodidae) larvae and nymphs. | this study compared the duration of the moulting periods of engorged larvae and nymphs of the ixodid ticks, amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri, at different temperature/relative humidity regimes, and examined the relationships between the engorged weight of ticks and their weights after moulting. the results showed that for each species, there was a significant relationship between the weights of unfed nymphs and engorged larvae, and the weights of unfed adults and engorged nymphs. the w ... | 2000 | 10980285 |
| prevalence of infection by the protozoan hemolivia mariae in ticks. | this paper considers the prevalence of natural infections of the protozoan hemolivia mariae, in its hosts the australian sleepy lizard, tiliqua rugosa, and the ixodid tick species, amblyomma limbatum. we investigate whether the protozoan may be influencing the tick population in the field, by comparing the observed prevalence of infection in ticks with the prevalence expected from known transmission dynamics. the prevalence of infection in nymphs was similar to the expected prevalence, but the o ... | 2001 | 11206116 |
| temporal and spatial dynamics of a parapatric boundary between two australian reptile ticks. | two tick species aponomma hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum that infest large reptiles have an abrupt parapatric boundary near mt mary in south australia. a previous model has suggested that the boundary is maintained at population density troughs resulting from habitat heterogeneity along a gradual environmental gradient. this paper describes the dynamics of the boundary on three transects over 17 years, 1982-98. over the last seven years of that period there has been a significant increase in ... | 2001 | 11298975 |
| ultrastructure of developmental stages of hemolivia mariae (apicomplexa: haemogregarinidae), natural parasite of the australian sleepy lizard, in experimentally infected deviant hosts. | mabuya vitatta (olivier) (scincidae) and agama stellio (l.) (agamidae) were infected with hemolivia mariae smallridge et paperna, 1997 by ingestion of tick viscera from amblyomma limbatum neumann, fed as nymphs on naturally infected australian sleepy lizards, tiliqua rugosa gray. the unnatural infection apparently interfered with the developmental schedule of the parasites. transmission electron microscopic images of merogonic stages were obtained, as well as images of early developing gametocyt ... | 2001 | 11817448 |
| interactions between climate, host refuge use, and tick population dynamics. | the relationship between australian sleepy lizard (tiliqua rugosa) microhabitat use and tick (amblyomma limbatum) population dynamics was investigated. over 3 years (2002-2004) between 23 and 50 lizards were radio-tracked up to four times a week to record microhabitat use and each fortnight to determine tick loads. daily maximum temperature was highly predictive of lizard microhabitat use. in hotter fortnights lizards used larger bushes and burrows for refuge. peak background tick infestation le ... | 2006 | 16541265 |
| unique biological rhythm in the reproductive behaviour of female ticks of reptiles. | we report the discovery of a biological rhythm in the reproductive behaviour of the tick bothriocroton hydrosauri that was absent in amblyomma limbatum, a species that occurs on the same species of reptile host. female b. hydrosauri mated in autumn or winter delayed oviposition until the following spring, while there was no diapause in conspecific females mated in spring or early summer. initiation of ovipositional diapause in ticks is usually related to photoperiodic stimuli, but this was not t ... | 2009 | 19126271 |
| refuge sharing network predicts ectoparasite load in a lizard. | living in social groups facilitates cross-infection by parasites. however, empirical studies on indirect transmission within wildlife populations are scarce. we investigated whether asynchronous overnight refuge sharing among neighboring sleepy lizards, tiliqua rugosa, facilitates indirect transmission of its ectoparasitic tick, amblyomma limbatum. we fitted 18 neighboring lizards with gps recorders, observed their overnight refuge use each night over 3 months, and counted their ticks every fort ... | 2010 | 20802788 |
| Coxiella burnetii in Western Barred Bandicoots (Perameles bougainville) from Bernier and Dorre Islands in Western Australia. | The aim of this work is to investigate the presence of Coxiella burnetii in Perameles bougainville and their ticks on two islands off Western Australia. Haemaphysalis humerosa, Haemaphysalis ratti, and Haemaphysalis lagostrophi were collected from P. bougainville on Bernier and Dorre Islands from 2005 to 2007; only Amblyomma limbatum was collected from humans over the same interval. One of 13 tick samples and 1 of 12 P. bougainville fecal samples were positive for C. burnetii DNA using quantitat ... | 2011 | 22167449 |
| locomotor performance of sand lizards (lacerta agilis): effects of predatory pressure and parasite load. | locomotor performance affects foraging efficiency, predator avoidance and consequently fitness. agility and speed determine the animal's social status and reflect its condition. in this study, we test how predatory pressure and parasite load influences locomotor performance of wild specimens of the sand lizard lacerta agilis. animals were chased on a 2-metre racetrack. lizards with autotomy ran significantly faster than lizards with an intact tail, but there was no significant difference in runn ... | 2013 | 24052686 |
| a 24-48 h fed amblyomma americanum tick saliva immuno-proteome. | multiple tick saliva proteins, the majority of which are unknown, confer tick resistance in repeatedly infested animals. the objective of this study was to identify the 24-48 h fed amblyomma americanum tick saliva immuno-proteome. the 24-48 h tick-feeding phase is critical to tick parasitism as it precedes important events in tick biology, blood meal feeding and disease agent transmission. fed male, 24 and 96 h fed female phage display cdna expression libraries were biopanned using rabbit antibo ... | 2014 | 24962723 |
| tick infestation patterns in free ranging african buffalo (syncercus caffer): effects of host innate immunity and niche segregation among tick species. | ticks are of vast importance to livestock health, and contribute to conflicts between wildlife conservation and agricultural interests; but factors driving tick infestation patterns on wild hosts are not well understood. we studied tick infestation patterns on free-ranging african buffalo (syncercus caffer), asking (i) is there evidence for niche segregation among tick species?; and (ii) how do host characteristics affect variation in tick abundance among hosts? we identified ticks and estimated ... | 2012 | 24533310 |
| networks and the ecology of parasite transmission: a framework for wildlife parasitology. | social network analysis has recently emerged as a popular tool for understanding disease transmission in host populations. although social networks have most extensively been applied to modelling the transmission of diseases through human populations, more recently the method has been applied to wildlife populations. the majority of examples from wildlife involve modelling the transmission of contagious microbes (mainly viruses and bacteria), normally in context of understanding wildlife disease ... | 2013 | 24533342 |
| genome sequence of rickettsia gravesii, isolated from western australian ticks. | rickettsia gravesii is a new rickettsia species closely related to the human pathogen rickettsia massiliae. here, we describe the genome sequence of r. gravesii strain bwi-1, isolated from amblyomma triguttatum triguttatum ticks collected from humans on barrow island, western australia. | 2013 | 24285646 |
| testing the robustness of transmission network models to predict ectoparasite loads. one lizard, two ticks and four years. | we investigated transmission pathways for two tick species, bothriocroton hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum, among their sleepy lizard (tiliqua rugosa) hosts in a natural population in south australia. our aim was to determine whether a transmission network model continued to predict parasite load patterns effectively under varying ecological conditions. using gps loggers we identified the refuge sites used by each lizard on each day. we estimated infectious time windows for ticks that detached ... | 2013 | 24533346 |
| widespread horizontal transfer of retrotransposons. | in higher organisms such as vertebrates, it is generally believed that lateral transfer of genetic information does not readily occur, with the exception of retroviral infection. however, horizontal transfer (ht) of protein coding repetitive elements is the simplest way to explain the patchy distribution of bovb, a long interspersed element (line) about 3.2 kb long, that has been found in ruminants, marsupials, squamates, monotremes, and african mammals. bovb sequences are a major component of s ... | 2012 | 23277587 |
| breakdown of phylogenetic signal: a survey of microsatellite densities in 454 shotgun sequences from 154 non model eukaryote species. | microsatellites are ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes. a more complete understanding of their origin and spread can be gained from a comparison of their distribution within a phylogenetic context. although information for model species is accumulating rapidly, it is insufficient due to a lack of species depth, thus intragroup variation is necessarily ignored. as such, apparent differences between groups may be overinflated and generalizations cannot be inferred until an analysis of the variation ... | 2012 | 22815847 |
| the impact of tick parasites on the behaviour of the lizard tiliqua rugosa. | populations of the australian sleepy lizard, tiliqua rugosa, near mt. mary, south australia carry natural infestations of two tick species aponomma hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum. in field experiments at two sites, 18 km apart, lizards with experimentally increased tick loads had smaller home ranges, moved shorter distances in a day, and were found basking more but moving less often than lizards from which ticks were experimentally removed. the results were consistent for adult lizards in two ... | 2000 | 28308351 |
| the impact of tick load on the fitness of their lizard hosts. | a survey was conducted of natural populations of the sleepy lizard tiliqua rugosa in south australia to determine whether infestation by ectoparasitic ticks reduced their fitness. between 1982 and 1990, 2183 captures of 824 individual lizards were made in an area where they were infested by the tick aponomma hydrosauri, and 3668 captures of 586 individual lizards were made in an area where they were infested with the tick amblyomma limbatum. lizards with high tick loads in one year tended to hav ... | 1993 | 28313658 |
| effect of delayed mating and prolonged engorgement on the reproductive fitness of female amblyomma limbatum (acari: ixodidae) in marginal population areas. | reptile ticks mate while females are attached to their host. following mating, females engorge, detach and then lay their eggs. this study examines whether the time that females of the reptile tick amblyomma limbatum spend on hosts prior to mating and the time they take to engorge on hosts after mating influence their reproductive fitness, as measured by the number of viable eggs they produce. when compared with females that experienced no temperature-induced delay in mating, females attached fo ... | 1993 | 28313860 |
| niche segregation in reptile ticks: attachment sites and reproductive success of females. | this study examined whether the mating or feeding success of females of two tick species, amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri, is influenced by their site of attachment on a host. marked interspecific differences were detected in the preferred sites of attachment of females to their common host, the sleepy lizard tiliqua rugosa, with amb. limbatum found predominantly in the ears and on the lower back, while ap. hydrosauri preferred to attach under the forelimbs and on the midback. data fr ... | 1992 | 28313721 |
| no competition for resources between two tick species at their parapatric boundary. | aponomma hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum are tick species with the same major host species, the sleepy lizard trachydosaurus rugosus, but parapatric distributions in south australia. near mt. mary one species is abruptly replaced by the other over one kilometre. there is substantial overlap in feeding sites on the hosts. this suggested that interspecific competition, during feeding, may be an important mechanism preventing further overlap of the distributions of the two species. however, in th ... | 1989 | 28313492 |
| mating behaviour and parapatry in two species of australian reptile tick. | few quantitative studies have examined the ecological consequences of similarities and/or differences in mating behaviour of parapatric species. reproductive interference occurs between several parapatric species of australian reptile tick, due to similarities in their mating behaviour (andrews et al. 1982a). attempts to determine whether reproductive interference serves to maintain parapatry between amblyomma limbatum and aponomma hydrosauri have been hindered because of difficulties in providi ... | 1988 | 28311848 |
| the influence of similar aggregation pheromones on the microhabitat choice of two parapatric species of reptile tick (acari: ixodidae). | non-specificity of part of the sex pheromone system of three species of reptile tick has previously been suggested to result in reproductive interference between the species when they attach to the same host (andrews et al. 1982). two of the species, aponomma hydrosauri and amblyomma limbatum, have common aggregation pheromones which act when the ticks are detached from their hosts. as each species tends to occupy spatially separated microhabitats, the similarity of the aggregation pheromone cou ... | 1982 | 28309977 |
| lizards, ticks and contributions to australian parasitology: c. michael bull (1947-2016). | professor c. michael bull was a great scientist and mentor, and an associate editor of this journal. while his research career spanned the fields of behavioural ecology, conservation biology and herpetology, in this article, we pay tribute to his major contribution to australian parasitology. mike authored more than eighty articles on host-parasite ecology, and revealed major insights into the biology and ecology of ticks from his long term study of the parapatric boundary of two tick species (a ... | 2017 | 28971015 |