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Teratological anomalies are congenital abnormalities manifested in the body structure of an organism because of developmental aberrations. These congenital abnormalities, also known as teratological forms, are rare in ticks (Ixodida) and include cases of asymmetries, atrophies, gynandromorphs, and schizomelies. Such teratological anomalies are underreported in Asia, as evidenced by the relatively few published works on this subject. Here, we describe five cases of teratological anomalies in the ixodid ticks Amblyomma cordiferum Neumann, Amblyomma helvolum Koch, and Dermacentor taiwanensis Sugimoto from Taiwan and the Philippines. These are the first records of teratologies in D. taiwanensis and A. cordiferum and only the second report for A. helvolum. Additionally, these are the first published accounts of teratological anomalies in ixodid species from Taiwan and the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ixodid tick Amblyomma cordiferumNeumann, 1899 is an uncommonly collected Old World reptile-associated species that is primarily ectoparasitic on snakes. This tick is known from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Samoa. In Taiwan, A. cordiferum has previously been reported on Elaphe carinata (Günther), Elaphe taeniura (Cope), and Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus). In this paper, we examined a total of 246 specimens of A. cordiferum from recent and old collections. Here we report new Taiwan records of A. cordiferum parasitizing the Chinese cobra, Naja atra Cantor, many-banded krait, Bungarus multicinctus Blyth, and yellow-spotted keelback, Fowlea flavipunctatus (Hallowell). This is also the first report of A. cordiferum parasitizing members of the venomous family Elapidae in Taiwan, as well as the first report of A. cordiferum parasitizing a member of the colubrid genus Fowlea Theobald. An updated host-parasite list summarizes all known hosts of A. cordiferum throughout this tick's geographic range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amblyomma helvolum Koch is an Asiatic reptile-associated tick that usually inhabits tropical forests and is primarily parasitic on varanids, skinks, and snakes. In Taiwan, A. helvolum has been reported on Elaphe carinata (Taiwan stink snake) and Ptyas mucosa (Oriental rat snake). Herein, we report new host records of A. helvolum in Taiwan from the following squamate species: Diploderma swinhonis (Swinhoe's japalure), Eutropis longicaudata (Long-tailed sun skink), Oligodon formosanus (Taiwan kukri), Sphenomorphus incognitus (Brown forest skink), and Trimeresurus stejnegeri (Chinese green tree viper). In addition, we present an overview of the distribution of A. helvolum across its range and its association with reptilian microbial agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]