Dermacentor auratus

Dermacentor auratus is a hard-bodied tick of the genus Dermacentor. It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Vietnam.^[1] The length from capitulum to middle festoon is 7 mm and maximum breadth at its mid length is 5 mm. Adult has highly ornate scutum, capitulum, and legs. A pair of eyes was present at the level of second coxae. Brown base color markings on the dorsal scutum is the characteristic feature.

Dermacentor auratus
Dermacentor auratus auratus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Family:	Ixodidae
Genus:	Dermacentor
Species:	D. auratus
Binomial name
Dermacentor auratus Supino, 1897
Synonyms
Dermacentor auratus auratus Neumann, 1911 Dermacentor (Indocentor) auratus Wassef & Hoogstraal, 1984 Dermacentor (Indocentor) auratus sumatranus Toumanoff, 1944 Indocentor auratus Schulze, 1933

Adults are a potential vector for numerous strains of Anaplasma platys, Rickettsia, Hepatozoon species, and more recently for Lanjan virus.^[2] It is an ectoparasite of wild pigs, deer, humans, and possibly pythons.^[3]

The complete mitochondrial genome of Dermacentor auratus has been described in 2021. The circularised genome has a total length of 14,766 bp and contains 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 2 non-coding control regions and 3 "tick-boxes".^[4]