Status and Descriptions of Haemaphysalis p. papuana Thorell (n. comb.) and of H. papuana kinneari Warburton (n. comb.) (Ixodoidea, Ixodidae) of Southern Asia and New Guinea
This study was undertaken in order to determine the correct name and relationships of tick populations previously referred to as Haemaphysalis papuana in epidemiological studies on Kyasanur Forest disease in Mysore State, India, and to establish a comparative baseline for delineating several closely related, undescribed Asiatic species. The male and female of H. papuana Bagyana Thorell, 1883, n. comb., are redescribed, and the nymph is described for the first time. Type material in the Genoa museum was studied, as well as other samples from New Guinea and nearby islands, Java, Sumatra, Sarawak, Malaya, Thailand, and the Philippines. Wild pigs are the chief hosts of adults. The closely related H. papuana kinneari Warburton, 1913, n. comb., of southern India was previously known by only a single female which was also examined for this study. All stages of the subspecies kinneari are described from samples from Mysore State, India. These taxa comprise a separate complex related to the H. bispinosa group. The adults have compact palpi with a dorso basal spur or plate on segment 3 while the immature stages have basolaterally salient palpi.