1047 © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. Short Communication The Genus Dermacentor (Acari: Ixodidae) in Laos: A Review and Update of Species Records Khamsing Vongphayloth, 1,6 Jeffrey C. Hertz, 2 Khaithong Lakeomany, 1 Dmitry A. Apanaskevich, 3 Richard G. Robbins, 4 Ian W. Sutherland, 2,5 and Paul T. Brey 1 1 Institut Pasteur du Laos, Laboratory of Vector-Borne Diseases, Samsenhai Road, Ban Kao-Gnot, Sisattanak District, 3560 Vientiane, Lao PDR, 2 United States Naval Medical Research Center - Asia, Sembawang, Singapore, 3 United States National Tick Collection, the James H. Oliver, Jr. Institute for Coastal Plain Science, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8056, 4 Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, MSC, MRC 534, 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD 20746– 2863, 5 United States Navy Entomology Center of Excellence, NAS, Jacksonville FL 32212-0043, and 6 Corresponding author, e-mail: k.vongphayloth@pasteur.la Subject Editor: Richard Wilkerson Received 31 January 2018; Editorial decision 21 February 2018 Abstract Two species of the ixodid tick genus Dermacentor Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) have previously been documented from Laos: D. auratus Supino, 1897 and D. steini (Schulze, 1933). Between 2012 and 2017, we recorded four additional Dermacentor species from this country: D. bellulus (Schulze, 1935); D. compactus Neumann, 1901; D. flippovae Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2015; and D. tamokensis Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2016. In addition, seven specimens in the tick collection at the Institut Pasteur du Laos may represent new species and are currently under taxonomic investigation. Key words: Dermacentor, Ixodidae, new record, Laos, Southeast Asia The ixodid tick genus Dermacentor Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) currently comprises 40 valid species globally (update available at http://rafaela.inta.gob.ar/nombresgarrapatas/ ListadoNombresValidos.aspx). Prior to 2015, only six species were known to occur in the Oriental Zoogeographic Region, all belong- ing to the subgenus Indocentor Schulze, 1933: D. atrosignatus Neumann, 1906; D. auratus Supino, 1897; D. compactus Neumann, 1901; D. confragus (Schulze, 1933); D. steini (Schulze, 1933); and D. taiwanensis Sugimoto, 1935 (Guglielmone et al. 2014). However, between 2015 and 2016, one species of Dermacentor was reinstated as a valid species [D. bellulus (Schulze, 1935)] and four new species were described from Southeast Asia (SE Asia) [(i) D. limbooliati Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2015; (ii) D. flip- povae Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2015; (iii) D. tamokensis Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2016; and (iv) D. pseudocom- pactus Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2016]  (Apanaskevich and Apanaskevich 2015a,b,c; Apanaskevich and Apanaskevich 2016). In an earlier study, only two Dermacentor species were reported from Laos: D. auratus and D. steini (Vongphayloth et al. 2016). In view of the recent taxonomic changes in Indocentor taxonomy described above, a reexamination of the Laotian Dermacentor ticks that were classifed as D. auratus and D. steini (Vongphayloth et al. 2016) at the Institut Pasteur du Laos (IP-Laos), together with an examination of adult specimens that were collected by our research team between 2016 and 2017, proved necessary. Here we update records for the Dermacentor species previously recorded in Laos and provide new records of four species for the country, thereby demonstrating that taxo- nomically accurate information on adult Dermacentor species in SE Asia is limited, while the larval and nymphal stages of most Indocentor species remain unknown. Materials and Methods All Dermacentor samples deposited in the collection room, Laboratory of Vector-Borne Diseases, IP-Laos, Vientiane, were examined; these comprised 22 specimens that were previously reported as D. steini and D. auratus (Vongphayloth et al. 2016), and 18 specimens from dead wild boars (Artiodactyla: Suidae), Sus spp., that had been frozen and sold in December 2016 at an outdoor market in Vangvieng District, Vientiane Province (local- ity: Lat. 18.761685°N, Long. 102.402847°E). Additionally, 7 Dermacentor specimens were collected in January and February 2017 at the Nakai Nam Theun National Protected Area (NNT NPA), known as the Watershed Management and Protection Authority area (WMPA), located in Nakai District, Khammouane Journal of Medical Entomology, 55(4), 2018, 1047–1050 doi: 10.1093/jme/tjy041 Advance Access Publication Date: 24 March 2018 Short Communication Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/55/4/1047/4953406 by guest on 31 October 2022