Bothriocroton oudemansi (Neumann, 1910) n. comb. (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae), an ectoparasite of the western long-beaked echidna in Papua New Guinea: redescription of the male and first description of the female and nymph Lorenza Beati Æ James E. Keirans Æ Lance A. Durden Æ Muse D. Opiang Received: 21 December 2006 / Accepted: 16 April 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract Specimens of Amblyomma oudemansi (Neumann, 1910) were collected in Papua New Guinea from an endangered monotreme, Zaglossus bruijni (Peters & Doria), the western long-beaked echidna. These ticks were compared morphologically and molecularly with species formerly assigned to Aponomma Neumann, 1899 (now included in Both- riocroton Keirans, King, & Sharrad, 1994 or Amblyomma Koch, 1844), and a phylogeny was generated. Based on our results, we reassign this tick to Bothriocroton, as B. oudemansi (Neumann, 1910) n. comb. Original descriptions are provided for the female and the nymph of this species and the male is redescribed. A revised list of all Bothriocroton records and holdings in the US National Tick Collection is also provided. Introduction Ticks from echidnas were first described by Lucas (1878), when he described Ixodes acanthoglossi (Lucas, 1878), collected from what was then called Acanthoglossus bruijni, the New Guinean long- beaked echidna, now Zaglossus bruijni (Peters & Doria). Unfortunately, his description is rather unspe- cific and was not accompanied by detailed diagnostic illustrations. Referring to the note published by Lucas, Oudemans (1906) included I. acanthoglossi in the recognised ixodid fauna of New Guinea. I. acanthoglossi was, however, listed as a rejected tick name by Camicas, Hervy, Adam & Morel (1998), probably because its description did not correspond to any known tick and because the Lucas types, to the best of our knowledge, were unavailable for comparison. Neumann (1910) described and illustrated Apo- nomma oudemansi (Neumann, 1910), based on male specimens collected from the skin of a specimen of ‘‘Zaglossus (Proechidna) bruyni nigroaculeatus’’. These ticks are deposited in the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam (ZMAM) of Amsterdam University, The Netherlands. Among other features, Neumann (1910) described the presence of spiracular plates extruding from the lateral border of the body anterior to the first festoon and a 2 ½/2 ½ hypostomal dental formula. Schulze (1936) described female ticks deposited in the Berlin Museum, Germany, which had been L. Beati (&) Á J. E. Keirans United States National Tick Collection, Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA e-mail: lorenzabeati@georgiasouthern.edu L. A. Durden Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA M. D. Opiang Wildlife Conservation Society, PO Box 277, Goroka, EHP, Papua New Guinea 123 Syst Parasitol (2008) 69:185–200 DOI 10.1007/s11230-007-9115-5