Ixodes crenulatus Koch, 1844

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 crenulatus Koch, 1844

Ixodes crenulatus Koch, 1844 c: 39 ; Morel and Pérez 1973: 275.

Note.

Tick names are used sensu Guglielmone et al. (2014) in this review. Thus, this species is not synonymous with I. canisuga Johnston as suggested by Filippova (1977) based on their morphological similarities and because the latter is not known to occur in Russia. Ixodes crenulatus was erroneously synonymized with I. kaiseri Arthur ( Sonenshine et al. 1969) , as clarified later ( Filippova and Uspenskaya 1973).

Recorded hosts.

Mammalia: Allactaga major (Kerr) (great jerboa), Allactaga sibirica (Forster) (Mongolian five-toed jerboa), Allocricetulus eversmanni (Brandt) (Eversmann’s hamster), Apodemus sylvaticus (wood mouse), Canis aureus Linnaeus (golden jackal), Canis familiaris (domestic dog), Canis lupus Linnaeus (gray wolf), Cricetulus barabensis (Pallas) (Chinese striped hamster), Ellobius talpinus (northern mole vole), Erinaceus europaeus (European hedgehog), Felis catus Linnaeus (domestic cat), Felis lybica Forster (African wildcat), Hemiechinus auratus (long-eared hedgehog), Homo sapiens Linnaeus (human), Lasiopodomys gregalis (narrow-headed vole), Lepus tolai (tolai hare), Marmota baibacina (gray marmot), Marmota bobak (bobak marmot), Marmota caudata (Geoffroy) (long-tailed marmot), Marmota kastschenkoi Stroganov and Yudin (forest-steppe marmot), Marmota menzbieri (Kashkarov) (Menzbier’s marmot), Marmota sibirica (Tarbagan marmot), Meles meles (Eurasian badger), Microtus arvalis (common vole), Mustela eversmanii (steppe polecat), Mustela nivalis (least weasel), Myodes glareolus (bank vole), Myospalax myospalax (Siberian zokor), Nothocricetulus migratorius (grey dwarf hamster), Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray) (common raccoon dog), Ochotona dauurica (Pallas) (Daurian pika), Ochotona pallasi (Gray) (Pallas’s pika), Otocolobus manul (Pallas) (Pallas’s cat), Ovis aries (domestic sheep), Phodopus sungorus (Pallas) (winter white dwarf hamster), Procyon lotor (Linnaeus) (raccoon), Spermophilus dauricus Brandt (Daurian ground squirrel), Spermophilus pygmaeus (little ground squirrel), Spermophilus relictus (Kashkarov) (relict ground squirrel), Spermophilus suslicus (speckled ground squirrel), Vulpes corsac (corsac fox), Vulpes vulpes (red fox) ( Filippova 1977; Litvinov and Sapegina 2003; Kalyagin et al. 2005, 2008).

Aves: Emberiza cia Linnaeus (rock bunting), Oenanthe isabellina (isabelline wheatear) ( Filippova 1977).

Recorded locations

(Fig. 24 ). Russia: Tula Oblast ( Myasnikov and Katelina 1964), Kursk Oblast (Lgovsky District), Voronezh Oblast (Kamennaya Steppe Nature reserve), Rostov Oblast (Aksay), Republic of Kalmykia (Derbetovsky District, Sarpinsky District), Volgograd Oblast (Gorodishchensky, Derbetovsky and Sarpinsky District) ( Denisov 2010, 2019), Kabardino-Balkaria (tract Khaimasha) ( Bittirova et al. 2019), Dagestan ( Aliev et al. 2007), Astrakhan Oblast, Stavropol Krai ( Filippova 1977), Saratov Oblast ( Turtseva 2007; Denisov 2010, 2019; Porshakov et al. 2020), Yekaterinburg ( Milintsevich et al. 2016), Tyumen Oblast ( Glazunov and Zotova 2014), Kurgan Oblast ( Starikov and Starikova 2021), Novosibirsk Oblast (Suzunsky, Karasuksky and Maslyaninsky District) ( Davydova and Lukin 1969), Omsk Oblast ( Tarasevich et al. 1971), Kemerovo Oblast ( Kalyagin et al. 2005, 2008; Kovalevsky et al. 2018); Altai Krai ( Oberth et al. 2015) (Sovetsky District, the village Kokshi) ( Filippova 1977), Altai Republic (Shebalinsky District, the village Cherga) ( Litvinov and Sapegina 2003), Tuva ( Glazunov and Zotova 2014; Filippova 1977), Transbaikal (villages Borgoy, Kyakhta, Selenge and Borzinsky District) ( Filippova 1977); Amur Oblast (village Krasny Vostok), Southern Outer Manchuria (Khankaysky District ( Kolonin 1986; Bolotin 2000). Ukraine: outskirts of Kyiv ( Akimov and Nebogatkin 2016), Zakarpattia Oblast and Western Ukraine in general ( Podobivskyi and Fedonyuk 2017), Cherkasy Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Askania-Nova Nature Reserve, Striltsivskyi Steppe Nature Reserve, Kharkiv Oblast ( Tokarsky and Zorya 2007), Lugansk Oblast ( Kuznetsov and Bondarev 2007) (including Khomutovs’kyi Steppe) ( Filippova 1977), the north-western sea coast of the Black Sea ( Rusev 2009), Crimea ( Evstafiev 2017) – plain and mountainous lands ( Filippova 1977). Belarus: Viciebsk Voblasts ( Subbotina and Osmolovsky 2022), Białowieża Forest ( Filippova 1977), considered rare ( Bychkova et al. 2015). Moldova: Lozova, Ivancea, Leova, reedbeds of the low Dniester and Pruth ( Filippova 1977; Uspenskaya et al. 2006). Georgia: Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Imereti ( Sukhiashvili et al. 2020). Armenia: Aragats mountain range ( Dilbaryan and Poghosyan 2018). Kazakhstan: through the whole territory of Kazakhstan ( Filippova 1977) and plus recent findings in the next regions: West Kazakhstan Region ( Tanitovsky and Maikanov 2018), Almaty Region ( Bibikov and Bibikova 2010), Pavlodar Region ( Amirova et al. 1989), the north of Betpak-Dala ( Rapoport et al. 2017), Jambyl Region (Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range, Talas Alatau) ( Sarsenbaeva et al. 2016). Kyrgyzstan: Tian Shan in general ( Abdikarimov et al. 2018) and its certain ranges and valleys including Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range ( Akyshova et al. 2022) and Terskey Ala-too Range ( Fedorova 2012 b); Chuy Valley ( Fedorova 2021). Turkmenistan: Krasnovodsk Peninsula, Daşoguz, the foothills of The Köpet Dag, Badhyz State Nature Reserve, Karakum Desert ( Kochkareva et al. 1971), Serhetabat (former Kushka) ( Filippova 1977). Uzbekistan: Tashkent Region ( Muratbekov 1954). Tajikistan: outskirts of the rural locality Jilikul ( Filippova 1977), Tigrovaya Balka ( Manilova and Shakhmatov 2008).

Ecology and other information.

Ixodes crenulatus is among the tick species that have the most extensive ranges comparing to other representatives of its family within Russia ( Tsapko 2020).

It is a typical nidicolous parasite of mammals and in the Asian part of its range as the main hosts it uses species of marmots of the genus Marmota (with a predominance of gray marmot) and such representatives of predatory mammals as badgers, steppe polecats, red and corsac foxes. The composition of the main host spectrum from different orders (rodents and predatory mammals) finds an explanation in close connections of topical and trophic relationships of marmots and predators. All of them have burrows of medium diameter, complex design, with a nesting chamber, remote from the entrance, which provides the stability of the microclimate, where ticks find suitable conditions. The above species of carnivores often use the burrows of their prey, marmots, and small carnivores, facilitating the exchange of ticks not only between individual burrows, but also between remote host settlements ( Filippova 2011).

This tick species is considered rare, for example, only few findings were mentioned in the Astrakhan Oblast ( Zimina et al. 1965; Zimina et al. 1996) and Saratov Oblast ( Denisov 2019). In most of the recognized range, I. crenulatus coexists with the closely related I. kaiseri . These species not only inhabit the same territory and the same biotopes but can also parasitize one host individual at the same time ( Tsapko 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to consider that accurate identification of these species is required and there is always a chance of their misidentification.

According to some suggestions ( Emelyanova 1979), I. crenulatus is probably a species group, or at least has remarkable intraspecific variations involving morphotypes ( Filippova and Panova 2000).

Figures

Figure 24. Map of Russia and neighboring countries showing the locations where Ixodes crenulatus was reported.