Molecular identification and Phylogenetic-Tree Analysis of Hard Ticks from wild and domestic cat Felidae in Iraq

A total of 13 samples of domestic cat Felis cattus (Linnaeus, 1758 ) and 9 samples of wild cat Felis chaus furax (de Winton, 1898) of the Felidae Family were trapped and examined to detect the hard ticks. The areas of the collection were: Baghdad, Al-Rashidiya, Tharthar, Nahrawan, AL-Mahmoudiya (middle of Iraq) and AL-Haretha (south of Iraq), Mosul (north of Iraq). The results of the current study revealed that four species belong to two genera of hard ticks: Haemaphysalis sp. (Koch, 1844), Rhipicephalus turanicus (Morel, 1969), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Neumann, 1904) and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (Santos, 1955). The rates and the density of infestation were discussed. The current study aimed to clarify the infestation difference between domestic and wild cats with hard ticks (3, 14.88) because domestic cats enjoy human attention, as they live close to him. The current study identified the Rhipicephalus appendiculatus for the first time in Iraq from domestic cat Felis cattus. Keywords: Felidae, Haemaphysalis, Ixodidae, Rhipicephalus, wild cat.