| dc.description.abstract | Amblyomma sculptum is an ixodid tick with wide distribution in the Americas, found from
humid areas of northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay to periamazonic areas in Brazil. A.
sculptum is one of the six species belonging to the Amblyomma cajennense complex, with the
broadest distribution among Brazilian states within the complex, being also important because
it is the main vector of Brazilian Spotted Fever (BSF), which affects humans. Although there
are studies related to the feeding behavior of ticks belonging to the Ixodidae family, and using
the technique of electropenetrography, the number of studies about the subject is still reduced
and, in the case of A. sculptum, until now, in the literature, there is no information about the
feeding behavior using a similar technique. Thus, the present work aims to study in detail the
feeding process of A. sculptum nymphs and females under laboratory conditions, when fed to
mice at the different stages that occur throughout the entire food process of the arthropod. To
this end, the electromyogram technique was used to capture the electrical signals produced by
the tick during the feeding process.The analysis of the electrical activity profile of the
pharyngeal pump allowed us to identify three events during haematophagy: suction, salivation
and inactivity. These events were groupedduring the analysis and four groups of events were
characterized for females: Suction-Salivation-Inactivity, Salivation-Inactivity, SuctionSalivation and Suction, whereas three were observed for nymphs: Suction-Salivation,
Salivation-Inactivity, and Inactivity. In addition, we determined the predominant event per
day of feeding and the suction frequency.These results provided new information about the A.
sculptum feeding in a vertebrate host under laboratory conditions. | |
