New Tick Species Discovered in Malaysia
Posted on March 10, 2015
6-27Scientists have discovered a new species of tick. It lives in Malaysia and Vietnam. The tick was discovered by Drs. Dmitry and Maria Apanaskevich of Georgia Southern University. Some of the tick specimens were found in beds, clothing and on a human being.The new species has been named Dermacentor limbooliati. It was named after Dr. Lim Boo Liat, a Malaysian zoologist known for his Dermacentor collections. Dermacentor limbooliati inhabits Malaysia's Mata Ayer Forest Reserve and Kaki Bukit Forest Reserve. It was previously confused with two similar tick species, Dermacentor auratus and of Dermacentor compactus.
Dmitry says in a statement, "The USNTC is still a treasure box for new species. Maria, my wife, is very-well trained in tick systematics and enthusiastically helps me in various aspects of my work. We looked through the Indocentor collection, which is enormous -- my rough estimate would be 10,000-15,000 specimens -- and found this new species as well as some other interesting findings that will be prepared for publications soon."
The new tick species is described here in the Journal of Medical Entomology in an article entitled, "Description of New Dermacentor (Acari: Ixodidae) Species From Malaysia and Vietnam."
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