Survey on morphometric characteristic of different developmental stages of Dermacentor marginatus under laboratory conditions

Abstract Objective To study the morphometric characteristics and biology of different developmental stages of Dermacentor marginatus ( D. marginatus ) under laboratory conditions. Methods D. marginatus ticks were collected from sheep in Shahmirzad and suburb. The identification of D. marginatus was carried out by means of stereoscope and light microscope according to available systematic keys. Nourished female ticks weight and their length of body, capitulum and mouth parts were measured. After laying eggs and breeding, the weight of all developmental larva stages and the length of mouth parts were measured and recorded carefully. Results The mean of egg dimension was 566 μm×436 μm. The length of unfed larva body, hypostome and capitulum were (690±10) μm, (75±5) μm and (172±7) μm, respectively. The weight of egg was calculated 0.05 mg and the weight of unfed larva, nymph and female were 0.02 mg, 0.14 mg and 4.66 mg, respectively; whereas the weight of replete larva, nymph and female were recorded 0.5 mg, 11 mg and 380 mg, respectively. Moreover, the length of unfed nymph, hypostome and capitulum were recorded (1300±50) μm, (135±5) μm and (280±10) μm, respectively. The longest length and width in replete female were observed to be 12.6 mm×8.4 mm. Conclusions The current investigation presents new information on biology of D. marginatus under standard laboratory conditions. Besides, investigation on ticks under laboratory conditions increases our knowledge regarding their biology and potential risks.