Abstract
The cuticular hydrocarbon composition and a stepwise discriminant analysis are used to elucidate the phenotypic relationships of 66 populations of Ixodes ricinus in Europe. The method correctly allocates Ixodes persulcatus (outgroup) populations away from the main cluster of I. ricinus samples and separates the samples into ten relatively defined clusters of specimens. Populations from Poland are inseparable from samples collected in Germany, Switzerland and the Italian Alps, while individuals from Slovakia and the Czech Republic come into separate groups of phenotypic similarity. Irish and British specimens are separated but highly related and Spanish populations show an unexpectedly high distance from the remaining clusters.
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Estrada-Peña, A., Gray, J.S. & Kahl, O. Variability in cuticular hydrocarbons and phenotypic discrimination of Ixodes ricinus populations (Acarina: Ixodidae) from Europe. Exp Appl Acarol 20, 457–466 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053309
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053309