The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM), located in northern Colombia, is considered a geographical island with high levels of biodiversity and endemism. However, little is known about tick species and their associated microorganisms at the SNSM. In this study we sampled host-seeking ticks in areas of the town of Minca within the SNSM. We collected 47 ticks identified as Amblyomma pacae, Amblyomma longirostre, Amblyomma ovale, Amblyomma mixtum, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, Ixodes sp. cf. Ixodes affinis and Ixodes sp. Of these ticks, we tested for Rickettsia spp. by amplifying the gltA, SCA1, and 16S rRNA genes via PCR. Rickettsia amblyommatis was detected in one pool of 3 larvae and in a female of A. pacae. Additonally, we isolated Rickettsia sp. belonging to the group of spotted fevers in larvae of A. longirostre. This study reports new findings of six species of ticks and two species of Rickettsia within the SNSM.

Insecticides are an indispensable and important tool for agricultural production. However, the inappropriate application of insecticides can cause damage to the food chain and ecosystem. Orius similis is an important predatory and natural enemy of Frankliniella occidentalis. Imidacloprid is widely used to control pests, but will inevitably exert adverse effects on O. similis. In order to determine the effect of different imidacloprid treatments on the ability of O. similis to prey on the 2nd-instar nymphs of F. occidentalis, we determined the toxicity and predation of imidacloprid on different stages of O. similis under contact and ingestion treatments. In addition, we used the Holling disc equation to evaluate the ability of O. similis to search and exhibit predatory activity following contact and ingestion treatments. Analysis showed that the highest LC10 and LC20 values for imidacloprid contact and ingestion toxicity treatment were 17.06 mg/L and 23.74 mg/L, respectively. Both imidacloprid treatments led toa reduction in the predatory of O. similis on prey. The functional responses of the 3rd to 5th instar nymphs, along with female and male O. similis adults to the 2nd-instar nymphs of F. occidentalis were consistent with the Holling type II response following contact and ingestion with imidacloprid. However, following imidacloprid treatment, the handing time (Th) of O. similis with single F. occidentalis was prolonged and the instantaneous attack rate (a) was reduced after imidacloprid treatment. The predatory capacity (a/Th) of female O. similis adults when treated with the LC10 concentration of imidacloprid by ingestion was 52.85; this was lower than that of the LC10 concentration of imidacloprid in the contact treatment (57.67). The extent of predation of O. similis on the 2nd-instar nymphs of F. occidentalis was positively correlated with prey density, although the search effect was negatively correlated with prey density. The most extensive search effect was exhibited by adult O. similis females. Simulations with the Hessell-Varley interference model showed that an increase in the number of O. similis would reduce search efficiency regardless of whether they were treated with imidacloprid or not. Thus, O. similis, especially female adults, exhibited strong potential for controlling the 2nd-instar nymphs of F. occidentalis. The toxicity of ingestion following treatment with the same concentration of imidacloprid in O. similis was greater than that of contact treatment. When using O. similis to control F. occidentalis in the field, we should increase the number of female adults released, and prolong the interval between imidacloprid treatment and O. similis exposure. This strategy will improve the control ability of O. similis, coordinate both chemical and biological control, reduce the impact of pesticides on the environment, and improve the efficiency of agricultural production.

Tick-borne diseases are a growing public health problem in the United States, and the US northeast has reported consistently high case rates for decades. Monmouth County, New Jersey, was one of the earliest jurisdictions to report Lyme disease cases in 1979 and reports several hundred cases per year nearly 40 yr later. In the time since, however, tick-borne health risks have expanded far beyond Lyme disease to include a variety of other bacterial pathogens and viruses, and additional vectors, necessitating a continually evolving approach to tick surveillance. In 2017, Monmouth County initiated an active surveillance program targeting sites across three ecological regions for collection of Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) and Amblyomma americanum L. (Acari: Ixodidae) as well as testing via qPCR for associated bacterial pathogens. During the first five years of this program (2017-2021), we report high levels of spatiotemporal variability in nymphal density and infection prevalence in both species, limiting the granularity with which human risk can be predicted from acarological data. Nonetheless, broader patterns emerged, including an ongoing trend of A. americanum dominance, risks posed by Borrelia miyamotoi, and the frequency of coinfected ticks. We present some of the first county-level, systematic surveillance of nymphal A. americanum density and infection prevalence in the northeastern US. We also documented a temporary decline in Borrelia burgdorferi that could relate to unmeasured trends in reservoir host populations. We discuss the implications of our findings for tick-borne disease ecology, public health communication, and tick surveillance strategies in endemic areas.

There are many records of the family Sarcoptidae in bats. The species Notoedres (Notoedres) yunkeri has been reported only once, parasitizing a molossid bat in Panama. In the present study, we expand the occurrence of the species to Brazil.

We describe a case of morphological anomalies in Amblyomma americanum, a medically important species associated with several human diseases and medical conditions. Based on morphological characters using dichotomous morphological keys, high-resolution light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy imaging, the tick was identified as Am. americanum nymph exhibiting various morphological anomalies including ectromely associate with asymmetry, olygomely (lack) of the fourth left leg, and schizomely (bifurcation of palpus) on the right side. We believe this is the first report of the presence of several spontaneous anomalies in one Am. americanum specimen. Morphological identity of the specimen was corroborated by DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial 16S region. We discuss recent reports of morphological anomalies in ixodid ticks and emphasize the significance of additional studies of teratology in medically important tick species and its potential implications.

This case report was prepared to give information about Linognathus setosus (von Olfers, 1816) detected on a 2-year-old male Rottweiler breed dog which was brought to a private veterinary clinic due to restlessness and itching. Lice were found especially on the head, neck and back regions of the dog in the examination for ectoparasites. Four female, 2 male and 9 nymph lice were collected from dog. The collected lice were preserved in eppendorf tubes containing 70% ethanol (C2H5OH) and were sent to the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Selçuk University for species identification. In the laboratory, the lice were left to be transparent in a 10% potassium hydroxide solution and passed through a series of alcohols (70% - 99% ethanol), glued onto the slide with Canadian balsam and examined microscopically. Lice were identified as L. setosus. Although this species has been reported in Turkey, there is no article about its morphological structure, biology and prevalence. Therefore, detailed informations about the morphological features of L. setosus are given to inform veterinarians and scientists working in this field.

Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus are the most common species of bedbugs that infest homes. Although case reports decreased substantially by the end of the 20th century, bed bugs, and especially C. lectularius, are currently suffering a resurgence mostly attributed to insecticide resistance, inadequate pest control, and increased travel. Here, we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first molecular confirmation of C. lectularius in Central America. Specimens were obtained from an apartment located in Heredia, Costa Rica. These specimens were identified morphologically as C. lectularius. The species identification was confirmed by amplifying and sequencing fragments of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and the 16S rRNA (16S) genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the sequences obtained were more closely related to a C. lectularius mitochondrial complete genome sequence from China, with similarities of 98.84% (686/694) for COI and 98.97% (387/391) for 16S. The finding of C. lectularius in Costa Rica will require further investigation in order to determine the extent of current infestations and the susceptibility to insecticides, especially due to the impact that this species can have in human health, as well as the tourism industry in the region.

BACKGROUND: Ommatissus lybicus de Bergevin (Hemiptera: Tropiduchidae) (Dubas Bug, DB) is an insect pest attacking date palms. It occurs in Arab countries including Oman. In this paper, the logistic, ordinary least square, and geographical weighted regressions were applied to model the absence/presence and density of DB against climate factors. A method is proposed for modelling spatially correlated prorations annually over the study period, based on annual and seasonal outbreaks. The historical 2006-2015 climate data were obtained from weather stations located in nine governorates in northern Oman, while dataloggers collected the 2017 microclimate data in eight of these nine governorates.
RESULTS: Logistic regression model showed the percentages of correctly predicted values using a cut-off point of 0.5 were 90%, 88% and 84%, indicating good classification accuracy. OLS and GWR models showed an overall trend of strong linear correlation between DB infestation levels and short- and long-term climate factors. The three models suggested that precipitation, elevation, temperature, humidity, wind direction and wind speed are important in influencing the spatial distribution and the presence/absence of dense DB populations.
CONCLUSIONS: The results provide an improved understanding of climate factors that impact DB\'s spread and is considered useful for managing DB infestations in date palm plantations. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

The white-backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera (Horváth), is a devastating migratory rice pest in South China; lack of effective methods to identify immigrating populations is the main cause of difficulties in outbreak forecasting, active prevention, and control. The current study set up field cages (2 × 2 × 3 m each, US-80 standard nylon mesh) in both early- and mid-season paddies in Yuanjiang (Red River) Valley in Yunnan, China, in 2012 and 2014. The immigrating population was successfully separated from the local population of S. furcifera and identified using statistical comparisons. The findings showed that densities of macropterous adults outside the cages were all significantly higher than those inside the cages on both early- and mid-season rice in both years, whereas the densities of young nymphs and old nymphs showed no significant differences. This indicated that immigrations were occurring, the earliest of which occurred on early-season rice in early May and reached its peak in mid-late May before a rapid collapse in both years. In contrast, the immigration on mid-season rice showed a continuous decline or fluctuation throughout the entire period. Analyses demonstrated that the migration process of S. furcifera in the Yuanjiang Valley features continuous immigration from the adjacent southern parts of Yunnan, which may represent most migration events in Yunnan during the outbreak period of a year. The findings of this case study could benefit our understanding of planthopper migration and outbreaks in other parts of China, especially where the outbreak pattern is very different from Yunnan.

Overwintering insects are categorized either as freeze tolerant or freeze avoiding (supercooling) based on their ability or inability, respectively, to tolerate the formation of ice in their body. The freeze tolerant insects set their supercooling point (SCP) higher for winter to stimulate freezing at higher temperatures, while freeze avoiding insects survive winter in a supercooled state by depressing their SCP. Some supercooling insects, however, were found to survive in frozen state when freezing occurred through inoculation by external ice at mild subzero temperatures. Here, we assessed the potential relevance of inoculative freezing and freeze tolerance strategy in an insect that was so far considered as a classical example of a \'supercooler\', the linden bug (Pyrrhocoris apterus). Microclimatic conditions of the overwintering microhabitat of P. apterus (leaf litter layer with buffered temperature fluctuations, mild sub-zero extremes, high humidity, and presence of ice) present a potentially high risk of inoculative freezing. We found that P. apterus is highly susceptible to inoculation by external ice. The temperature at which inoculative freezing occurred (above -3°C) was much higher compared to SCP (-16 °C to -20 °C in winter). The insects were inoculated through body openings and across cuticle and were able to survive after freezing. There was, however, a distinct critical ice fraction, corresponding to 38.7-42.8% of total body water, beyond which survival rapidly decreased to zero. We found that P. apterus adaptively reduces the actual ice fraction below critical ice fraction for winter season. Since many insect species overwinter in habitats similar to that of P. apterus, the ability to tolerate freezing after inoculation by external ice crystals could be much more common among \'supercooling\' insects than it is currently appreciated.