First report of teratological anomalies in Amblyomma and Dermacentor ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae) from Taiwan and the Philippines.

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]