Ecological plasticity of parasitiform mites (family Ixodidae) in the Republic of Tatarstan

Close attention to the study of blood-sucking arthropods (ixodes ticks) in the Middle Volga region can be attributed to the forties of the XX century. Among the widespread and rather extensive group of arthropods, parasitiform mites of the genus Ixodes are assigned. It is known that ixodic ticks are of particular interest as carriers and long-term keepers of pathogens of various natural focal diseases: tick-borne encephalitis virus (VCE), ixodic tick-borne borreliosis (ICB), tularemia, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, etc. Currently, there is a tendency in the region to replace some species with others, and as a result, relocation and changing the boundaries of previously familiar habitats. In the acarifauna of the Republic of Tatarstan there are species: Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, 1930; Ixodes ricinus Linnaeus, 1758; Dermacentor reticulatus Fabricius, 1794; Ixodes lividus Koch, 1844; Dermacentor marginatus Sulzer, 1776; Dermacentor silvarum Olenev, 1931; Dermacentor nuttalli Olenev, 1928; Ixodes trianguliceps Birula, 1895 and others. Anthropogenic transformation of natural plantations dynamically affects zoogeography and the spread of vectors of natural focal infections (I. persulcatus, I. ricinus). Complex transformative processes are taking place to replace populations of the taiga tick I. persulcatus with its competitive, ecologically close species, the forest tick I. ricinus. This contributes to the epidemic and epizootic valence of natural foci.