Haemaphysalis megalaimae Rajagopalan, 1963

Petney, Trevor N., Boulanger, Nathalie, Saijuntha, Weerachai, Chitimia-Dobler, Lidia, Pfeffer, Martin, Eamudomkarn, Chatanun, Andrews, Ross H., Ahamad, Mariana, Putthasorn, Noppadon, Muders, Senta V., Petney, David A. & Robbins, Richard G., 2019, Ticks (Argasidae, Ixodidae) and tick-borne diseases of continental Southeast Asia, Zootaxa 4558 (1), pp. 1-89 : 27

Haemaphysalis megalaimae Rajagopalan, 1963

This is a widely distributed species for which relatively few records are available, presumably due to its specificity for barbet birds ( Megalaimidae ). It has been recorded from Thailand ( Tanskul et al. 1983), as well as from India ( Rajagopalan 1963) and Japan ( Hoogstraal and Kim 1985). These hosts are arboreal, nesting in tree holes, and Ha. megalaimae has never been collected from ground-dwelling hosts, suggesting that it is also confined to the host’s tree habitat ( Geevarghese and Mishra 2011).

Rajagopalan (1963) describes all life history stages; Trapido et al. (1964b) illustrate the larval capitulum and the nymphal capitulum, coxae and trochanters.