Morphological and phylogenetic tree analysis of Argas persicus in local chicken in Mosul city

Abstract

The current study meticulously classified soft ticks, Argas persicus, according to the taxonomic dichotomous key, which consists of many parameters. The ticks showed a mamillated, granulated, written, tinkled, or striate structure with the advantage of having a pair of claws on each tarsus, which were carefully observed and documented in our research. In Argas persicus, the separation between males and females was the genital cleft, which is a broad horizontal fissure in the females, while in males, have halved width of females and is more ovoidal in outline. Haller's organ is also a complicated sensory organ enchanted by A. persicus and has a chemosensation instead of insect antennae. Seven hundred sixty-four specimens of soft ticks collected as soon as they dropped off the bird have been seen both for individual ticks and for batches. The specimens of the ticks were identified to species level under a stereoscope dissecting microscope based on the morphological characters.  A. persicus collected from local chicken and their shelters from many regions of Mosul city (north, east, west, and south of the city). The polymerase chain reaction for the COX1 mitochondrial gene had been positive in all samples; the purified amplicons had been sent to a commercial company for sequencing. The present study focused on the morphological characteristic of A. persicus to achieve guideline witness with photos taken under stereoscopic dissecting microscope, which was established by the phylogenetic analysis of four isolates of A. persicus OR995800, OR995801, OR995802, and OR995803. The convergence ratio between our isolates and those of China, Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, USA, Duhok/Iraq, and Italy was 95.36-100%, and the phylogenetic tree showed that the four isolates fell within one clade.

Keywords

• taxonomy
• dissecting
• mamillated
• haller’s
• stigma