Ixodes signatus Birula, 1895

Fedorov, Denis & Hornok, Sándor, 2024, Checklist of hosts, illustrated geographical range, and ecology of tick species from the genus Ixodes (Acari, Ixodidae) in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, ZooKeys 1201, pp. 255-343 : 255-343

Ixodes signatus Birula, 1895

Ixodes signatus Birula, 1895: 353.

Ixodes arcticus Osborn: Cooley and Kohls 1945: 201.

Ixodes parvirostris Neumann: Neumann 1904: 444.

Ixodes eudyptidis v. signata Birula: Neumann 1911: 21.

Recorded hosts.

Aves: Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus) (great cormorant), Urile pelagicus (pelagic cormorant), Urile penicillatus (Brandt) (Brandt’s cormorant), Urile urile (red-faced cormorant) ( Filippova 1977).

Recorded locations

(Fig. 33 ). Russia: islands: Furugelm Island, Tyuleniy Island, the Kuril Islands – Paramushir, Urup and Makanrushi, the Commander Islands – the Kamen Ariy and the Bering Island ( Kirschenblatt 1936; Pomerantsev 1950; Violovich 1958, 1962 a; Leonova et al. 1971; Timofeeva et al. 1971, 1974; Lvov et al. 2014 b); mainland – Primorsky Krai (Lazovsky District) ( Kozlovskaya et al. 1968).

Ecology and other information.

Ixodes signatus is a nidicolous tick species occurring in several archipelagos and separate islands of the Russian Far East, as well as in Japan and the west coast of North America together with the Pacific islands nearby ( Filippova 1977). It inhabits mostly coastal rocks being an obligate parasite of cormorants. Other birds, for example the Siberian thrush Geokichla sibirica (Pallas) , are considered occasional hosts ( Violovich 1962 a). Findings in the mainland Eurasia are probably occasional cases of transportation ( Kozlovskaya et al. 1968).

The type specimens of I. signatus are deposited at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences ( Filippova 2008) and include the lectotype: female; [Aleut Islands], Unalashka, 1846, coll. Voznesenskii, type; AL I 358; paralectotypes: 8 females, 1 nymph, AL I 358 a; 2 females; CB I 3170, I 3171. Description – Filippova 1977: 204–210 (female, male, nymph, larva).

Figures

Figure 33. Map of Russia and neighboring countries showing the locations where Ixodes signatus was reported.