Ixodes tapirus Kohls, 1956

Benavides-Montaño, Javier Antonio, Betancourt-Echeverri, Jesus Antonio, Valencia, Gustavo López & Mesa-Cobo, Nora Cristina, 2022, A review of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Colombia: The risk of tick-borne diseases, Persian Journal of Acarology 11 (3), pp. 397-437 : 420

Ixodes tapirus Kohls, 1956

This tick has been reported in Colombia and Panama. It parasitizes mammals of the order Perissodactyla . The female is described Type: CNHM ( Barros-Battesti et al. 2006). It was described from a single female collected on mountain tapir, Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin, 1829) ( Perissodactyla : Tapiridae ) in the Colombian Andes ( Kohls 1956). Later, Fairchild et al. (1966) reported two collections totaling six females found on Baird's tapir, Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865) in two highland localities of western Panama ( Fairchild et al. 1966). The male and the immature stages were not analyzed. Recently it was compared with a female holotype from T. pinchaque , Rio Majuas (1570 N, 76240 W), 2700 m a.s.l., San Agustın, Huila, Colombia, 21.x.1951, P. Hershkovitz; deposited in the FMNH (FMNHINS 3474346). This female of I. tapirus collected in Colombia is slightly different from the studied specimens from Costa Rica and Panama. For instance, they were found to have smaller and sparser punctations along the posterior margin of the scutum and a reduced 4th row of denticles on the hypostome (there is only 1 denticle in the 4th row on one of the sides). However, based on other qualitative and quantitative characters, it is similar to the other available specimens. Described variables can be attributed to geographic or individual variability. Ixodes tapirus is confined to highlands of Colombia (Huila Department), Panama (Chiriquí Province) and for the first time, it was recorded in Costa Rica (San José Province). All collections were made at elevations exceeding 2000 (2012–3353) m a.s.l. Males and females of this species were collected from vegetation, and females were also collected from two species of tapirs, T. pinchaque and T. bairdii ( Apanaskevich et al. 2017) .