Molecular investigations of the bat tick Argas vespertilionis (Ixodida: Argasidae) and Babesia vesperuginis (Apicomplexa: Piroplasmida) reflect ‘‘bat connection’’ between Central Europe and Central Asia Sa ´ndor Hornok 1 • Krisztina Sz} oke 1 • Tama ´s Go ¨rfo ¨l 2 • Ga ´bor Fo ¨ldva ´ri 1 • Vuong Tan Tu 3 • No ´ra Taka ´cs 1 • Jen} o Kontscha ´n 4 • Attila D. Sa ´ndor 5 • Pe ´ter Esto ´k 6 • Sara Epis 7 • Sa ´ndor Boldogh 8 • Da ´vid Kova ´ts 9 • Yuanzhi Wang 10 Received: 14 March 2017 / Accepted: 16 May 2017 / Published online: 23 May 2017 Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 Abstract Argas vespertilionis is a geographically widespread haematophagous ectopara- site species of bats in the Old World, with a suspected role in the transmission of Babesia vesperuginis. The aims of the present study were (1) to molecularly screen A. vespertilionis larvae (collected in Europe, Africa and Asia) for the presence of piroplasms, and (2) to analyze mitochondrial markers of A. vespertilionis larvae from Central Asia (Xinjiang Province, Northwestern China) in a phylogeographical context. Out of the 193 DNA extracts from 321 A. vespertilionis larvae, 12 contained piroplasm DNA (10 from Hungary, two from China). Sequencing showed the exclusive presence of B. vesperuginis, with 100% sequence identity between samples from Hungary and China. In addition, A. ves- pertilionis cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (cox1) and 16S rRNA gene sequences had & Sa ´ndor Hornok hornok.sandor@univet.hu 1 Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary 2 Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary 3 Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam 4 Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary 5 Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 6 Department of Zoology, Eszterha ´zy Ka ´roly University, Eger, Hungary 7 Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy 8 Department of Nature Conservation, Aggtelek National Park Directorate, Jo ´svaf} o, Hungary 9 Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary 10 Department of Pathogenic Biology, School of Medicine, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China 123 Exp Appl Acarol (2017) 72:69–77 DOI 10.1007/s10493-017-0140-z