University of Zakho

General Science Department

Report title
Ticks & Mites

Supervisor:
Prepared by:
Group:A

2019-2020
Introduction
Ticks are easily adapted group of insects that infest the external body surface of
vertebrates (Hanafi-Bojd et al. 2007). Most ticks usually can be found during
critical stages of the host’s life cycle such as lactation or gestation (Czenze &
Broders 2011). Ticks have an important role in the transmission of a wide range of
diseases and a main vector for pathogenic organisms such as protozoa, rickettsia,
bacteria and viruses that can cause zoonotic diseases (Madinah et al. 2011). These
organisms cause serious and life-threatening illness in humans and animals (Chul-
Min et al. 2006). Large number of ticks’ species used human as intermittent host.
Some ticks parasitize wide variety of hosts, while others are extremely selective
and feed solely on one host species (Oliver 1989). Fever, Rocky Mountain spotted
fever and typhus fever are known to be transmitted by ticks (Ansari 1953). Ticks
species Dermacentor marginatus also play important role in the epidemiology of
the brucellosis (Brucella melitensis and B. abortus) and can even acts as reservoirs
of the infective agent (Galuzo & Rementsova 1955). The infection persists in the
adult ticks at the temperature of the laboratory for 120-150 days and declines
after 200-300 days. Mites are highly diverse and specialized group that can be
further divided into chiggers, mesostigmatid mites, listrophorids and myobiids
(Mohd Zain et al. 2015). Most kinds of mites are free-living; they are not parasitic
but a few kinds become specialized to feed upon or infest animal (Walter &
Proctor 2013). Chiggers are known as a vector for scrub typhus disease where
Leptotrobidium chiangraiensis and L. deliense are the vector for Orientia
tsutsugamushi (Lerdthusnee et al. 2003; Madinah et al. 2011; Weitzel et al. 2016).
Ornithonyssus bacoti, is mesostigmatid mites that can cause dermatitis in human
(Baumstark et al. 2007; Reeves et al. 2007; Rosen et al. 2002).

2
More than 60,000 species of mites have been described from various regions of
the world, the number of undescribed species is estimated to exceed 600,000 and
the majority of such undiscribed species are expected to live in tropical regions.
Mites are successful colonizers of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and are found
in leaf-litter and soil, on leaf, on bark and invertebrate animals, in salt and fresh
water, and so on (Evans, 1992).

Habitat of mites are free living forms and parasitic form. Some of free living
mites as Predaceous and Phytophagous ( suborder Gamasida and Actinedida),
most of this group mite is important as pest plants. Aside from their feeding
injury, some species have been found to transmit plant viruses. Many mites are
predaceous on other pest and some species have been used in biological control
programmers (Kalshoven et al, 1950).

3
 Table of content

1.Mites(MORPHOLOGY) 5-6

HABITAT & LIFE STAGE 6-7

Identification of mites 8-9

House dust mites 9-10

pathogenesis of mites 10

2.Ticks(Relationship to animals and other arthropods) 10-11

Feeding and Diseases 12-13

Hosts(One , two and three hosts) 14-17

17-19
References

4
 MORPHOLOGY
The Acari, comprising mites and ticks, are one of the largest and most biologically
diverse groups of the Arachnida. The mites and ticks differ from most arachnids in
that somatic segmentation generally is inconspicuous or absent. Abdominal
segmentation is a primary attribute in all of the other subclasses except the
Aranae-the spiders. The mite, ticks and spider may easily be separated from other
arachnids. Mouthparts of mite and tick, contained in a discrete anterior
gnathosoma; portion of the body on which the legs are inserted (the podosoma)
broadly joined to the prortion of the body behind the legs (the opisthosoma) to
form the idiosoma. Gnathosoma or capitulum resembles the head of the
generalized arthropod. The roof of the gnathosomal tube is termed the epistome
(tectume capituli of Evans and Till, 1965), and the lateral walls are made up of the
enlarged coxae of palpi. Paired of chelicerae in gnathosoma is primary organs of
food acquisition and may differ considerably between taxa, but are generally
adapted for piercing, sucking, or chewing. Generally chelicerae are three
segmented (two segmented in the suborder Ixodida) (Krantz, 1978).

Idiosoma functions parallel to those of the abdomen, thorax, and portions

of the head of insect. Ventrally, the idiosoma a variety of shields (ventral, sternal,
metasternal, epigynial, metapodal, and ventrianal shield). On the idiosoma found
external structures are locomotory, respiratory, copulatory, sensory and secretory
in function.

5
 Locomotion. Legs of adults and nymphs four pairs, the larva has three pairs.
The legs are divided into seven primary segments (coxa, trochanter, femur, genu,
tibia, tarsus and pretarsus).

Respiration. Stigmata or spiracles is system respiratory in the Acari for

exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. The presence and position or absence of
stigmata for identifying the acari suborder

HABITAT

Two major habitat of mites: I) free living form and II) parasitic form.
I) Free-Living form:
A. Predaceous Mites
1. Ground species
2. Aerial species
3. Storage species
4. Littoral-intertidal-marine species
5. Aquatic species
B. Phytophagous Mites
1. Ground species
2. Aerial species
3. Storage species
C. Mycophagous Mites
D. Saprophagous Mites

E. Other Microphytophagous
F. Coprophagous and Necrophagous Mites

6
 G. Phoretic Mites

II. Parasitic Form

A. Ectoparasitic Mites
1. Vertebrate ectoparasites
2. Invertebrate ectoparasites

B. Endoparasitic Mites
1. Vertebrate endoparasites
2. Invertebrate endoparasites
LIFE STAGE

The acari generally have four life stage: egg, larva, nymph and adult. The
typical larva have six legged form, some family in suborder have prelarva. Nymph
and adult have 8 legged. Nymph form are known single, two or three individual
nymphal stages and depend of the suborder. Two nymphal stages (protonymph and
deutonymph) occur in most of the suborder Gamasida and three nymphal stages
(protonymph, deutonymph and tritonymph) occur in the suborder Oribatida.
Development from egg to adult may require as little as 4-5 days in the Acari,
but more often extends to several weeks or month depend of each suborder and
condition.

7
 Identification of mites

here are several species of mites that attack plants. Often known as spider mites,
red spiders, red mites, or spinning mites. Mites are barely visible to the naked eye.
Controlling mites is essential for a successful garden.
Mites attack a wide variety of garden and house plants, damaging plants by
sucking sap from the foliage. Light infestations will usually go unnoticed. Heavily
infested plants take on a spotted appearance, and the plant gradually yellows. In
many cases, the leaves will drop off after the characteristic fading or yellowing.
Badly infected plants will usually have a fine cobwebby appearance on the leaves
or needles.

No matter what types of plants you grow, it's likely something spider mites will
eventually attack. In heavy infestations, they may spin a protective web over the
surface of the foliage where they are feeding. Infestation should be controlled
immediately, If indoor or greenhouse plants are involved the plant and nearby
plants should be isolated / quarantined. If garden plants are involved the infested
plant should be destroyed and neighboring plants treated. here are thousands of
species of mites which, like ticks, are small arthropods. The most bothersome to
humans and pets are clover mites, dust mites, itch mites, tropical rat mites,
tropical fowl mites, and scabies mites. The most common mites are parasites
which live on or under the skin of birds and mammals. Dust mites live in furniture
upholstery, pillows, and mattresses. Itch mites live on insect larvae living in straw,
hay, grasses, or leaves. Humans are bitten when they come in contact with this
plant material. Scabies mites burrow under the skin and produce tiny tunnels in

8
which they lay eggs. Rodent mites nest in warm areas, like around pipes and
furnaces, where rats and mice live. Bird mites live in cracks and crevices where
birds nest. Because of their size, mites are nearly impossible to identify in an
environment. However, the presence of mite bites indicate that preventative
measures need to be taken. A good vacuum cleaner with a high-efficiency
particulate air (HEPA) filter will remove clover mites, bird and rodent mites, and
dust mites. Dust mites also thrive in high humidity (above 50%) and die in dry air.
Run a dehumidifier or air conditioner to maintain low humidity in damp areas of
the home.

House dust mites

House dust mites feed primarily of dead human tissue, animal dander, fungi,
bacteria and pollen of plants. Carpets, curtains, upholstery, mattresses, bedding
and pillows are favorable sites for the habitat of these mites9. They cause
respiratory diseases such as asthma and rhinitis through inhalation of live or dead
mites, feces or byproducts of the metabolism. They can also cause contact
dermatitis by contact of human epithelial cells with allergens in the environment.
The main species of house dust mites are Dermatophagoides farinae Hughes,
Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trousseart), Euroglyphus maynei (Cooreman)
andBlomiatropicalis (van Bronswijk, Cock &Oshima). Dermatophagoides farinae,
Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Euroglyphus mayneibelong to the
Pyroglyphidae family, while Blomia tropicalisbelong to the Glycyphagidae
family25.Dermatophagoides pte-ronyssinusis more common in Europe, while
theDermatophagoides farinaeis more common in America16. Blomia tropicalis,
initially recognized as a storage mite, has become accepted as house dust mite29

9
as it has been found in homes in both tropical and subtropical countries like
Spain, India, Taiwan, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

pathogenesis of mites

 Mites are among the smallest arthropods with most barely visible without magnification.  Mites are
closely related to ticks, but they are tissue‐juice feeders, not blood‐feeders, and do not transmit as
broad a variety of infectious microbial diseases. In fact, the only infectious diseases transmitted by
mites are rickettsialpox and scrub typhus.  The most common ectoparasitic dermatoses caused by
mites are chiggers and scabies.  Travelers are uniquely predisposed to contracting several mite‐
transmitted dermatoses and infectious diseases including: (1) scabies mites from close personal
contacts; (2) zoonotic scabies from domestic or wild animals and pets; (3) rickettsialpox from
sleeping in or visiting mice‐infested dwellings; and (4) chiggers and scrub typhus after stumbling
onto trombiculid larvae‐infested “mite islands” in endemic regions worldwide. This review will
describe the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and management of the most common mite‐
transmitted dermatoses and infectious diseases in returning travelers.

Ticks

Relationship to other animals.

Ticks are related to animals such as spiders and insects. These

are all animals without a spine (= invertebrates) belonging to a

group called the phylum Arthropoda. All members of this group

have an external skeleton (= exoskeleton). This is a hard outer

covering to which the muscles are attached internally. The exoskeleton

also contains and protects organs such as the gut and

reproductive apparatus. Arthropods include crustaceans, insects,

10
spiders, scorpions and mites. Ticks are within a group called the

order Acari, which consists mostly of mites. Ticks are very similar

to mites but are larger and all of them only feed as parasites.

There are two main groups of ticks called the families Argasidae

or argasids, and the Ixodidae or ixodids. Argasid ticks are

often called soft ticks because they do not have hard plates on

their bodies. The ixodids with these plates are often called hard

ticks. There are at least 866 described species of tick in the world.

The relationship of ticks to other arthropods.

Arthropoda (a phylum) = insects, ticks, crustaceans ... ...

Arachnida (a class) = spiders, ticks, mites ... ...

Acari (an order) = ticks and mites

Ixodida (a sub-order) = ticks

Argasidae (a family) = soft ticks

Argas (a genus)

Argas persicus (a species)

Ixodidae (a family) = hard ticks

Amblyomma (a genus)

Amblyomma gemma(a species)

11
 Feeding.

All feedings of ticks at each stage of the life cycle are parasitic.

Ticks feed only on the blood of their hosts. The ticks crawl onto

their host and attach to the skin with their mouthparts. These

consist of chelicerae, hypostome and the palps (see drawing

opposite and Plate 1). The chelicerae and hypostome form a

tube which penetrates the host’s skin. Often a material (= cement)

is secreted in the saliva. This glues the palps to the outer

epidermis and glues the rough cheliceral sheath and toothed

hypostome to the dermis. The chelicerae consist of moveable

rods with sharp claws at the end. These cut a hole in the dermis

and break the capillary blood vessels very close to the surface

of the skin, forming a feeding lesion. The ticks feed on the blood

and lymph released into this lesion.

The feeding of ixodid ticks is slow because the body wall needs

to grow before it can expand to take a very large blood meal.

12
Larvae take typically 3 to 5 days to fully engorge with bloodTicks find their hosts
in several ways. Some ticks live In Open environments And Crawl Onto Vegetation
To Wait For Their Hosts to Pass By. This Is A Type Of Ambush And The behave
our Of Waiting on Vegetation Is Called Questing (See Plate 1). Thus In Genera such
As Rhipicephalus , Haemaphysalis And Ixodes The Larvae,Nymphs And Adults Will
Quest On Vegetation. The Ticks Grab onto The Hosts Using Their Front Legs And
Then Crawl Over The Skinto Find A Suitable Place To Attach And Feed.

Diseases

Diseases associated with ticks.

Ticks are harmful parasites that directly cause a variety of

disease states in their hosts. Damage can occur without any

other pathogen or parasite being transmitted by the ticks. For

example Amblyomma variegatum adults cause scarring on

teats of cattle sufficient to reduce suckling efficiency. Ticks

are most notorious as the transmitters (= vectors) of other organisms,

such as bacteria, that cause disease (= pathogens). It is to

reduce these diseases that much money and effort is spent on

the control of ticks using a wide variety of treatments and

management techniques. It is beyond the scope of this book to

describe the associated diseases but the combined knowledge of these diseases
and the ticks associated with them helps in the diagnosis of both.

13
 Hosts

Ticks have characteristic species of hosts to which they are

adapted. Hosts are usually in a group of similar species. For

example all the Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) species are adapted

to feed on cattle, but some may survive by feeding on sheep or

antelope. Because Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) are one-host ticks

all stages must be able to feed on the same species of host. Compare

this with Rhipicephalus appendiculatus which is found

most commonly on cattle. All stages feed well on cattle and

similar hosts in the family Bovidae such as sheep and many

wild species such as buffalo. Species of ticks in which the immature

stages only feed on the same hosts as the adults are

monotropic. Species in which the immature stages on ly feed on

different types of hosts from the hosts of adults are ditropic.

Finally species in which the immature stages can feed on both

different types and same types (for example rodents and ruminants)

of hosts as the adults are telotropic.

14
 Three-host tick life cycle

The illustration below shows the sequence of feeding and moulting during the life
of individual ticks of a typical three-host species. This is the commonest type of
life cycle. Larvae develop in the eggs until ready to hatch, usually in several weeks.
Larvae feed once on a host, then detach from the host and hide in sites such as
soil or vegetation. They moult to nymphs. Nymphs feed once and moult in the
same way as larvae. From the nymphal moult either a female or male hatches.
The female feeds once and lays one huge batch of eggs. The depleted female then
dies. The male may take several small feeds, mate and then die. Ticks that have
recently hatched from eggs or from moulting have soft bodies and are inactive for
one to two weeks until the external body wall hardens. The life cycle of three-host
ticks is slow, from six months to several years.

15
 One and two-host tick life cycles

The illustration overleaf shows the sequence of feeding and moulting during the
life of individual ticks of a typical one-host species. This is a less common type of
life cycle but it occurs in all the Boophilus sub-genus of the Rhipicephalus genus
and in other genera. Eggs are laid on soil. Larvae hatch after several weeks of
development and crawl onto vegetation to quest for a host. When they have
completed feeding they remain attached to the host and moulting occurs there.
The nymphs then feed on the same host and also remain attached. After another
moult the adults hatch and then feed on the same host. The adults will change
position on the same host for mating. Thus all three feedings of any individual tick
occur on the same individual host. The life cycle of one-host ticks is usually rapid,
for Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) it takes three weeks for the feedings on one host
and two months for egg laying and larval development. The two-host life cycle is
similar but only the larvae and nymphs feed on the same individual host, and the
adults will feed on another host. Hyalomma detritum and Rhipicephalus evertsi
have two-host life cycles.

16
17
References
Ansari, M.A. 1953. The rat ectoparasites, their role as vector of human diseases
and their control. Pakistan Journal of Health 3(2): 95-100.
Baumstark, J., Beck, W. & Hofmann, H. 2007. Outbreak of tropical rat mite
(Ornithonyssus bacoti) dermatitis in a home for disabled persons. Dermatology
215(1):66-68.
Chul-Min, K., Ying-Hua, Y. & Do-Hyeon, Y. 2006. Tick-borne Rickettsial pathogens
in ticks and small mammals in Korea. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 5766-5776.
Czenze, J.Z. & Broders, H.G. 2011. Ectoparasite community structure of two bats
(Myotis lucifugus and M. septentrionalis) from the Maritimes of Canada. Journal
of Parasitology Research 2011:1-9.
Evans, G. O. 1992. Principles of Acarology. C. A. B. International, Wallingford,
563pp.

Galuzo, I.G. & Rementsova, M.M. 1955. Reservoirs of animal Brucellosis

amongst wild animals and birds, in the light of studies of foci of infection. Trudy
Inst. Zool. Alma-Ata 3:12-26.
Hanafi-Bojd, A.A., Shahi, M., Baghaii, M., Shayeghi, M., Razmand, N. & Pakari, A.
2007. A study on rodent ectoparasites in Bandar Abbas: The main economic
southern seaport of Iran. Iranian J. Envir. Health Sci. Engin. 4:173-176.
Indonesië. In twee delen Dell I. N. V. Uitgeverij W. Van Hoeve, ‘S-
Gravenhage/Bandoeng. 512pp.
Kalshoven, L. G. E. and J. V. D. Vecht. 1950. De Plagen van de cultuurgewassen
in
Lerdthusnee, K., Khuntirat, B., Leepitakrat, W., Tanskul, P., Monkanna, T.,
Khlaimanee, N., Inlao, I., Kengluecha, A., Mungviriya, S., Chandranoi, K.,
Krairojananan, P., Bodhidatta, D., Rodkwamthook, W., Phulsuksombati, D.,

18
Sangjun, N., Watcharapichat, P., Jones, J.W. & Coleman, R.E. 2003. Scrub
typhus. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 990: 25–35.
Madinah, A., Fatimah, A., Mariana, A. & Abdullah, M.T. 2011. Ectoparasites of
small mammals in four localities of wildlife reserves in Peninsular Malaysia.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 42(4): 803–813.
Madinah, A., Fatimah, A., Mariana, A. & Abdullah, M.T. 2011. Ectoparasites of
small mammals in four localities of wildlife reserves in Peninsular Malaysia.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 42(4): 803–813.
Mohd Zain, S.N., Amdan, S.A.S.K., Braima, K.A., Abdul-Aziz, N.M., Wilson, J.J.,
Sithambaran, P. & Jeffery, J. 2015. Ectoparasites of murids in Peninsular
Malaysia and their associated diseases. Parasites and Vectors 8:254-261.
Oliver Jr., J.H. 1989. Biology and systematics of ticks (Acari: Ixodida). Ann. Rev.
Ecol. Syst. 20:397-430.
Reeves, W.K., Loftis, A.D., Szumlas, D.E., Abbassy, M.M., Helmy, I.M., Hanafi,
H.A. & Dasch, G.A. 2007. Rickettsial pathogens in the tropical rat mite
Ornithonyssus bacoti (Acari: Macronyssidae) from Egyptian rats (Rattus spp.).
Experimental and Applied Acarology 41(1-2):101-109.
Rosen, S., Yeruham, I. and Braverman, Y. 2002. Dermatitis in humans associated
with the mites Pyemotes tritici, Dermanyssus gallinae, Ornithonyssus bacoti and
Androlaelaps casalis in Israel. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 16(4):442-
444.
Walter, D.E. & Proctor, H. 2013. Mites: Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour – Life
at A Microscale. Dordrecht: Springer Science and Business Media.
Weitzel, T., Dittrich, S., López, J., Phuklia, W., Martinez-Valdebenito, C.,
Velásquez, K., Blacksell, S.D., Paris, D.H. & Abarca, K., 2016. Endemic scrub
typhus in South America. New England Journal of Medicine 375(10):954-961.

19