Argas radiatus

Distribution

Earlier collections of A. radiatus originated from FL, IA, TX, and central and northeastern Mexico. In 2012, a female tick was found in a tree-mounted Lindgren funnel, a device designed to collect arboreal insects, Adams Co., CO.

Hosts

Hosts for A. radiatus are birds, especially domestic poultry, but some collections are known from roosts of other large native birds, such as wild turkey, black vulture, and bald eagle, which may have been its original hosts. Although this tick can complete its life cycle in approximately 2 months as demonstrated in TX, it alternatively can survive unfed for longer than 3 years.

Vector Status

Argas radiatus can cause host paralysis, especially in domestic fowl, and it is an experimental vector of the rickettsial agent of aegyptianellosis, Aegyptianella pullorum Carpano (Anaplasmataceae). Recently, high numbers of larval A. radiatus caused paralysis in eight bald eagle nestlings in AZ.

Resources

H Joel Hutcheson, James W Mertins, Boris C Kondratieff, Monica M White, Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases of Colorado, Including New State Records for Argas radiatus (Ixodida: Argasidae) and Ixodes brunneus (Ixodida: Ixodidae), Journal of Medical Entomology, tjaa232, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa232