Ornithodoros mimon Kohls et al. is an argasid tick, originally described from larvae collected on bats from Bolivia and Uruguay. In Brazil the species is aggressive to humans and animals. Nymphs and adults of O. mimon were collected from the roof of a residence in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil, whose residents were bitten by ticks. Once in the laboratory, they were fed on rabbits and maintained in biological oxygen demand incubator at 27 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 10 % relative humidity. The females, after mating, laid eggs that resulted in larvae that were identified by the original description and also by the paratypes examination (RML 50271-50274) deposited at the United State National Tick Collection, Georgia, GA, USA. The life cycle of this species was obtained through the acquisition of two generations of ticks (F1 and F2) in the laboratory using rodents and rabbits as hosts. The biological parameters of larva, nymph and adult stages of both generations were recorded from infestations of the laboratory hosts. Larvae showed a profile of feeding for days on the host, whereas the nymphs and adults fed only for few minutes. First nymphal instar (N1) molted to second nymphal instar (N2) without blood meal. The species life cycle was elucidated for the first time.

The aim of this paper is to record new hosts for Ixodes luciae Sénevet in the State of Para, Brazil, and present a case of malformation (teratogeny) in a nymph of this species. The new host records are Marmosa murina (parasitized by females) and Philander opossum (parasitized by nymphs). One of these nymphs showed malformation in the posterior margin of the opisthosoma resulting in a heart shaped posterior end.

The description of the larva of Amblyomma romitii Tonelli-Rondelli is based on optical and scanning electron microscopy. Larvae were obtained under laboratory conditions from an engorged female collected on capybara from Rurópolis municipality, State of Pará, Northern Brazil. Several characters are presented including the chaetotaxy of idiosoma, palpi and Haller's organ. The larval porotaxy (topographical and numerical patterns of integumentary structures) was presented and compared to that of the other Amblyomma spp. larvae. The mitochondrial 16S rDNA partial sequence of A. romitii generated in the present study was aligned with sequences previously determined for other Amblyomma species available in Genbank and with some species presently sequenced. The larval morphology of A. romitii and other Neotropical Amblyomma spp. larvae is discussed as well as the DNA sequence and its phylogenetic position among other species of the genus.

Ixodes schulzei Aragão & Fonseca is an endemic tick to Brazil and has already been reported in the northern (State of Rondonia), southeastern (States of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo) and southern (State of Santa Catarina) regions, always found in association with the water rat Nectomys squamipes (Brandt). This communication records the first occurrence of this tick species in the State of Parana, southern region of Brazil, and it constitutes its first report on Akodon montensis (Thomas) Aragão and Fonseca, 1951 (ONOFRIO et al., 2009;DANTAS-TORRES et al., 2009). A ninth species named Ixodes serrafreirei Amorim, Gazeta, Bossi and Linhares, 2003 was proposed based on the nymphal stage (AMORIM et al., 2003), but due to lack of proper description I. serrafreirei has been regarded as a nomen nudum (VENZAL et al., 2008;GUGLIELMONE et al., 2009).All Ixodes species are restricted to wild hosts, primarily mammals, but two are exclusively found in birds (LABRUNA et al., 2003;ONOFRIO et al., 2006). Among these species, three are only known from females: I. amarali, I. fuscipes and I. schulzei (BARROS-BATTESTI et al., 2007). The latest species is endemic to Brazil and it has been found always in association with the water rat Nectomys squamipes (Brandt). Previous studies of life cycle under laboratory conditions suggest that I. schulzei could be a parthenogenetic species, since only female ticks were obtained from engorged nymphs (LABRUNA et al., 2003). Barros-Battesti et al. (2007) described the immature stages and redescribed the female of I. schulzei. This species has been reported from the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo (southeastern), Santa Catarina (southern) and Rondonia (northern) (LABRUNA et al., 2003;ARZUA et al., 2005). This communication records the first occurrence of this tick species in State of Parana, southern region of Brazil, and it constitutes its Rev. Bras. Parasitol. Vet., Jaboticabal, v. 22, n. 1, p. 159-161, jan.-mar. 2013 Onofrio, V.C. et al. (Figure 1). The rodent A. montensis was the most frequently trapped species followed by O. russatus and N. squamipes. On this latest rodent, 52 immature ticks of the species I. schulzei were collected. Two nymphs of this tick species were also found on O. russatus; they were preserved in alcohol and deposited at the Acari Collection from "Instituto Butantan" under the number IBSP 09130. In June 2009, we returned to the same area to make new collects of rodents. During 5 days, a total of 14 specimens of Akodon were trapped, but no N. squamipes was collected. Unexpectedly, two larvae and one nymph of I. schulzei were collected on A. montensis. The identification of the latter host was based on cytogenetic data (2n = 24 e 2n = 24 + 1B) according to Christoff (2007).The nymph died after collection and it was then immersed in alcohol. Larvae were taken to the laboratory, fed on Calomys callosus Rengger, and maintained in BOD incubator at 27 °C and 95% RH; the same was done with the two emerged nymphs. On September 14, ...