Introduction:

The capacity of ticks as vectors for specific pathogens is determined by the species. Recent studies reevaluated the taxon Amblyomma cajennense as a complex of 6 species and A. mixtum Koch, 1844 as the only one present in Cuba. On the other hand, Rhipicephalus microplus is the only monoxene species of the genus Rhipicephalus present on the island, which has been identified as a complex of 5 species based on phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial genomes.

Methods:

In this study, the morphological and molecular characterization of 4 Cuban field isolates belonging to the Amblyomma cajennense complex and of specimens of 2 colonies of R. microplus ticks established in the LNP from 2 Cuban isolates were performed using scanning electron microscopy and the morphological keys described for each species combined with phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear genes.

Results and discussion:

The U-shaped genital opening combined with long and thick setae densely distributed in the posterior notum of the female ticks from the 4 Cuban populations of the A. cajennense complex and the rounded bodies of all specimens are morphological characteristics attributed to the species A. mixtum. The characteristics observed in the specimens of the 2 colonies from the LNP coincided with the distinctive characteristics of the species belonging to the R. microplus complex but did not allow the species definition. The molecular phylogenies supported the presence of A. mixtum in Cuba with more than 84 % reliability and the classification in clade A or R. microplus s. s. of the Cuban specimens belonging to the R. microplus complex with more than 65 %. It is concluded that these results permitted an unequivocal identification of the four Cuban populations as belonging to the species A. mixtum and of the colonies from the LNP as R. microplus s. s.

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