(Acari: Ixodidae) collected from tropical Amblyomma tapirellum forest canopy (v1; ref status: approved 1, approved with reservations 1, not approved 1, http://f1000r.es/1tz)

Free-ranging ticks are widely known to be restricted to the ground level of vegetation. Here, we document the capture of the tick species Amblyomma in light traps placed in the forest canopy of Barro Colorado Island, tapirellum central Panama. A total of forty eight adults and three nymphs were removed from carbon dioxide–octenol baited CDC light traps suspended 20 meters above the ground during surveys for forest canopy mosquitoes. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of questing ticks from the canopy of tropical forests. Our finding suggests a novel ecological relationship between A. and arboreal mammals, perhaps monkeys that come to the ground to tapirellum drink or to feed on fallen fruits. 1,2 3 3 3

[1]  S. Bermúdez,et al.  Current status of Amblyomma ovale (Acari: Ixodidae) in Panama. , 2013, Ticks and tick-borne diseases.

[2]  Roberto J. Miranda,et al.  Ticks (Ixodida) on humans from central Panama, Panama (2010–2011) , 2012, Experimental and Applied Acarology.

[3]  B. Kensinger,et al.  Efficacy of Dry Ice-Baited Traps for Sampling Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) Varies with Life Stage but Not Habitat , 2011, Journal of medical entomology.

[4]  R. C.,et al.  Distribution of ectoparasites of Canis lupus familiaris L. (Carnivora: Canidae) from Panama , 2011 .

[5]  M. Eremeeva,et al.  Detection and Identification of Rickettsial Agents in Ticks From Domestic Mammals in Eastern Panama , 2009, Journal of medical entomology.

[6]  G. Ramos-Fernández,et al.  Terrestrial Behavior of Ateles spp , 2005, International Journal of Primatology.

[7]  D. Sonenshine.  Pheromones and other semiochemicals of ticks and their use in tick control , 2004, Parasitology.

[8]  Sudhir Kumar,et al.  MEGA3: Integrated software for Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis and sequence alignment , 2004, Briefings Bioinform..

[9]  Jeremy R. deWaard,et al.  Biological identifications through DNA barcodes , 2003, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[10]  E. Leigh,et al.  Tropical Forest Ecology@@@Tropical Forest Ecology: A View from Barro Colorado Island , 2000 .

[11]  G. Fairchild.  An annotated list of the blood-sucking insects, ticks and mites known from Panama , 1943 .