Morphological and molecular identification of the hard ticks parasitizing Tremarctos ornatus (Carnivora: Ursidae) from paramo of Ecuador

The Andean bear or spectacled bear, Tremarctos ornatus (Cuvier), inhabits the Andes and is considered an endangered species due to anthropogenic factors. The aim of this study was to identify the tick species parasitizing the Andean bears in the evergreen shrubland and paramo grassland ecosystem in the Andes Mountain Range of Ecuador. Twenty-six ticks were removed from five Andean bears and morphologically identified as Amblyomma multipunctum Neumann, Ixodes boliviensis Neumann and Ixodes montoyanus Cooley. One specimen of each species was also molecularly analyzed and confirmed by BLAST. This study confirms the presence of I. boliviensis parasitizing T. ornatus and adds new records of A. multipunctum and I. montoyanus in its distribution. The parasite-host relationships are new in all cases for Ecuador.