Argas (Persicargas) gilcolladoi n. sp. (Acarina: Argasidae): a parasite of the griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus, in Spain

Argas (Persicargas) gilcolladoi n. sp. is described from larvae collected on the griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus, in Zaragoza province, Spain. This species is a European representative of a widely distributed group of species that parasitize vultures within the subgenus Persicargas. Argas (P.) gilcolladoi is easily differentiated from larvae of species in Persicargas that feed on birds other than vultures by the presence or absence of the concentric cell arrangement in the anterolateral corners of the dorsal plate, the size of the dorsal plate, the length of posterolateral setae, and a characteristic hypostome. Argas (Persicargas) gilcolladoi n. sp. is described from larvae of a population of ticks that parasitize the griffon vulture, Gypsfulvus Linneo in Zaragoza province, Spain. As in the Asian and African Persicargas larvae that infest vultures (abdussalami Hoogstraal and McCarthy, 1965; becklemischevi Pospelova-Shtrom, Vassilieva, and Semaschko, 1963; theilerae Hoogstraal and Kaiser, 1970; zumpti Hoogstraal, Kaiser, and Kohls, 1968), the new species has a concentric cell arrangement on the anterolateral corers of dorsal plate. A. (P.) gilcolladoi is differentiated from these species and others in this subgenus by various combinations of morphological fea-