Ornithodoros batuensis Hirst, 1929

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 : 14

Ornithodoros batuensis Hirst, 1929

This bat parasite was described from an adult and a nymph collected in the Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia ( Hirst 1929), where it was later found in considerable numbers crawling near cave nectar bats ( Eonycteris spelaea ) ( Audy et al. 1960). It has since been found in Thailand as well as Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea ( Uchikawa and Kobayashi 1978; Klompen et al. 1995).

The description of an adult by Hirst (1929) is extremely brief. A key to the larvae of the then known Ornithodoros from the Eastern Hemisphere is provided by Sonenshine et al. (1966). Dumbleton (1958) provides illustrations of larval chaetotaxy, some larval morphology and the Haller’s organ of the adults. Klompen et al. (1995) provide a map of the distribution of O. batuensis and related species.