The ixodid
Amblyomma aureolatum
is suspected to play a role in the epidemiology of wild life-cycle hemoparasites,
which frequently infect dogs in rural and hunting areas in Brazil. Little
is known about its bionomics. The objective of the present study was to
evaluate some bionomic aspects of
A. aureolatum
ticks in Brazil. One engorged female, collected from a dog (
Canis familiaris
) in São Sebastião das Águas Claras, State of Minas Gerais,
was used to establish a colony in the laboratory. Subsequently its parasitic
stage progeny were fed on domestic dogs and laboratory animals. The free-living
stages were incubated at 27ºC ± 2°C and minimum 70% relative
humidity in a BOD incubator. The egg incubation period ranged from 31 to
34 days; the parasitic period of larvae ranged from 4 to 6 days and ecdysis
to nymphs occurred from day 19 up to day 22. The parasitic period of nymphs
ranged from 5 to 8 days and the period of ecdysis to adults from 31 to 33
days. The parasitic period of adults ranged from 11 to 15 days, the pre-oviposition
period from 6 to 12 days, and the oviposition period from 9 to 38 days.
The total duration of the life cycle ranged from 116 to 168 days.
