Ixodidae

Ixodidae; Temporal range: Cretaceous–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Ixodes ricinus (engorged)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Superfamily:	Ixodoidea
Family:	Ixodidae; C. L. Koch, 1844

The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks,^[1] one of the three families of ticks, consisting of over 700 species. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'soft ticks' (Argasidae), lack. They are ectoparasites of a wide range of host species, and some are vectors of pathogens that can cause human disease.^{[citation needed]}

Description[edit]

They are distinguished from the Argasidae by the presence of a scutum.^[2] In both the nymph and the adult, a prominent gnathosoma (or capitulum, mouth and feeding parts) projects forward from the animal's body; in the Argasidae, conversely, the gnathosoma is concealed beneath the body.^{[citation needed]}

They differ, too, in their lifecycle; Ixodidae that attach to a host bite painlessly and are generally unnoticed, and they remain in place until they engorge and are ready to change their skin; this process may take days or weeks. Some species drop off the host to moult in a safe place, whereas others remain on the same host and only drop off once they are ready to lay their eggs.^{[citation needed]}

Classification[edit]

There are 702 species in 14 genera.^[3] The family contains these genera:^[3]

Africaniella – two species
Amblyomma – 130 species (includes some of Aponomma)
Anomalohimalaya – three species
Archaeocroton – one species
Bothriocroton – seven species
Cosmiomma – one species
Cornupalpatum – one species
Compluriscutula – one species
Dermacentor – 34 species (includes Anocentor)
Haemaphysalis – 166 species
Hyalomma – 27 species
Ixodes – 246 species
Margaropus – three species
Nosomma – two species
Rhipicentor – two species
Rhipicephalus – 82 species (includes Boophilus)
Robertsicus – one species

Fossil genera[edit]

†Compluriscutula Poinar and Buckley 2008 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
†Cornupalpatum Poinar and Brown 2003 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian

Medical importance[edit]

Many hard ticks are of considerable medical importance, acting as vectors of diseases caused by bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, such as Rickettsia and Borrelia.^[2] Other tick-borne diseases include Lyme disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, Southern tick-associated rash illness, tick-borne relapsing fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, Powassan encephalitis, and Q fever.^[4]

References[edit]

^ "Ixodidae". NCBI taxonomy. Bethesda, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2017. Lineage( full ) cellular organisms; Eukaryota; Opisthokonta; Metazoa; Eumetazoa; Bilateria; Protostomia; Ecdysozoa; Panarthropoda; Arthropoda; Chelicerata; Arachnida; Acari; Parasitiformes; Ixodida; Ixodoidea
^ ^a ^b D. H. Molyneux (1993). "Vectors". In Francis E. G. Cox (ed.). Modern parasitology: a textbook of parasitology (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 53–74. ISBN 978-0-632-02585-5. Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
^ ^a ^b Alberto A. Guglielmone; Richard G. Robbing; Dmitry A. Apanaskevich; Trevor N. Petney; Agustín Estrada-Peña; Ivan G. Horak; Renfu Shao; Stephen C. Barker (2010). "The Argasidae, Ixodidae and Nuttalliellidae (Acari: Ixodida) of the world: a list of valid species names" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2528: 1–28. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2528.1.1. hdl:11336/97869. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
^ "CDC - Tick-Borne Diseases - NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic". www.cdc.gov. 2018-11-14. Archived from the original on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-01.

External links[edit]

Data related to Ixodidae at Wikispecies
Media related to Ixodidae at Wikimedia Commons

[NCBI-1] "Ixodidae". NCBI taxonomy. Bethesda, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2017. Lineage( full ) cellular organisms; Eukaryota; Opisthokonta; Metazoa; Eumetazoa; Bilateria; Protostomia; Ecdysozoa; Panarthropoda; Arthropoda; Chelicerata; Arachnida; Acari; Parasitiformes; Ixodida; Ixodoidea

[Cox-2] D. H. Molyneux (1993). "Vectors". In Francis E. G. Cox (ed.). Modern parasitology: a textbook of parasitology (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 53–74. ISBN 978-0-632-02585-5. Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2016-11-06.

[list-3] Alberto A. Guglielmone; Richard G. Robbing; Dmitry A. Apanaskevich; Trevor N. Petney; Agustín Estrada-Peña; Ivan G. Horak; Renfu Shao; Stephen C. Barker (2010). "The Argasidae, Ixodidae and Nuttalliellidae (Acari: Ixodida) of the world: a list of valid species names" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2528: 1–28. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2528.1.1. hdl:11336/97869. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2015-06-28.

[4] "CDC - Tick-Borne Diseases - NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic". www.cdc.gov. 2018-11-14. Archived from the original on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-01.

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