Deon Kahlil Bakkes

• PhD (Zoology)
• Data Analyst at CIBA Industries

Distinct life stages may experience different selection pressures influencing phenotypic evolution. Morphological evolution is also constrained by early phenotypes, since early development forms the phenotypic basis of later development. This work investigates evolutionary-developmental modification in three life stages and both sexes of 24 Rhipice...

Rhipicephalus are a species-diverse genus of ticks, mainly distributed in the Afrotropics with some species in the Palearctic and Oriental regions. Current taxonomic consensus comprise nine informal species groups/lineages based on immature morphology. This work integrates biogeographic, ecological and molecular lines of evidence to better understa...

Afrotropical Ornithodoros (Ornithodoros) ticks are revised based on qualitative morphology of females and nymphs, as well as tarsus I shape outlines of females measured in a geometric morphometric framework. These lines of evidence corroborate lineages based on 16S rRNA nucleotide sequence data. Four previously unrecognized species are described, a...

Ticks are obligate blood-sucking parasites of wild animals and transmit many zoonotic microorganisms that can spread to domesticated animals and then to humans. In Cameroon, little is known about tick diversity among wildlife, especially for animals which are hunted for human consumption. Therefore, this survey was undertaken to investigate tick an...

Argas persicus (the fowl tick) is a species of soft tick commonly associated with poultry farms. It has a wide geographic distribution and colonizes different climate regions. Morphological identification of A. persicus has been reported worldwide, but genetic data regarding its molecular characterization is limited. The present study provides data...

The present study reports anomalies in Hyalomma dromedarii and Hyalomma rufipes adults collected from dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Aswan, Egypt, between January and June 2022. A total of 52 adult ticks displayed one or several local and/or general anomalies. A wide variety of local anomalies was observed including atrophy of one or mul...

Argas persicus is soft tick commonly associated with poultry farms. It has a wide geographic distribution and colonizes different climate regions. Morphological identification of A. persicus has been reported worldwide, while genetic data regarding its molecular characterization is limited. The present study provides data on morphological identific...

This study aimed to identify ticks infesting dogs admitted to the Potchefstroom Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and to detect tick-borne pathogens they are harbouring. A total of 592 ticks were collected from 61 stray dogs admitted to PAWS originating from several suburbs in and near Potchefstroom, South Africa. The dog ticks were identified as Haema...

Epidemiology and distributions of canine tick-borne diseases as well as their veterinary and zoonotic significance are poorly understood in Algeria. The present study describes a molecular investigation of important tick-borne pathogens in Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu stricto collected from domestic dogs in steppe and high plateau areas of centra...

Tick-borne diseases are recognized as a growing public health concern and cause significant issues in humans and animals by serving as dispersal agents of ticks and their associated pathogens. Birds contribute to the spread of ticks and tick-borne diseases, with migratory birds playing a role in regional dispersal. Only a few studies have been carr...

A total of 3311 tick specimens were randomly collected from domestic animals including cattle, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, and dogs from Lesotho districts namely, Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing and Thaba Tseka. Tick species were identified morphologically and verified by amplificatio...

Ticks will diminish productivity among farm animals and transmit zoonotic diseases. We conducted a study to identify tick species infesting slaughter bulls from Adama City and to screen them for tick-borne pathogens. In 2016, 291 ticks were collected from 37 bulls in Adama, which were ready for slaughter. Ticks were identified morphologically. Tota...

The present report describes morphological anomalies in Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.s. collected from dogs between February 2017 and May 2019 in the steppic region of Djelfa and high plateau area of Bordj-Bou-Arreridj in Algeria. Out of 1043 ticks from 147 infested dogs, four adult ticks (0.38%), collected from four dogs, exhibited local morphologic...

Seasonal migration of birds between breeding and wintering areas can facilitate the spread of tick species and tick-borne diseases. In this study, 151 birds representing 10 different bird species were captured on Ponza Island, an important migratory stopover off the western coast of Italy and screened for tick infestation. Ticks were collected and...

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) have a major economic impact on animal production worldwide. In the present study, 2410 ticks were collected from January to August 2017 from livestock and other domestic animals in North Kordofan and Kassala, Sudan, for species identification and investigation of Rickettsia spp. and piroplasms, either individua...

In Uganda, the role of ticks in zoonotic disease transmission is not well described, partly, due to limited available information on tick diversity. This study aimed to identify the tick species that infest cattle. Between September and November 2017, ticks (n = 4362) were collected from 5 districts across Uganda (Kasese, Hoima, Gulu, Soroti, and M...

The present study aims to perform comparative genetic characterization for R. sanguineus s.l. infesting Algerian dogs living in steppe and high plateaus regions based on mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. In total, 1043 ticks were collected from 147 infested dogs, including 756 ticks from 124 dogs in Djelfa, and 287 t...

Rhipicephalus turanicus ticks are widely distributed across the Palearctic and Afrotropics. These two continental populations display differences in morphological characters that raise the question of a potential species boundary. However, the taxonomic status of these morphologically divergent lineages is uncertain because R. turanicus from Cyprus...

Ticks are important parasites from economic and public health points of view because of their ability to reduce farm animals' productivity and transmit zoonotic diseases. We conducted this cross-sectional study between January and March 2016 and between March and April 2017 to identify tick species in West Darfur, Al-Jazeera, and the River Nile sta...

A two day tick identification course presnted to 10 students and researchers at the University of the Free State. The course covered general principles of taxonomy and morphology as applied to tick identification, as well as a specific focus on separating vector and non-vector species of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and other economically impor...

Morphological abnormalities in ticks seem to be rare phenomena in nature, and are underreported in Africa. In this article, we describe general and local anomalies in two Amblyomma lepidum females and one Rhipicephalus decoloratus female collected from cattle in Moroto and Kasese districts, Uganda. One A. lepidum specimen displayed metagynander gyn...

The systematics of the genera and subgenera within the soft tick family Argasidae is not adequately resolved. Different classification schemes, reflecting diverse schools of scientific thought that elevated or downgraded groups to genera or subgenera, have been proposed. In the most recent classification scheme, Argas and Ornithodoros are paraphyle...

Afrotropical ticks comprise about one third of all known species worldwide. Yet the biodiversity of ticks in Africa is greatly understudied. This seminar details the history and holdings of the Gertrud Theiler Tick Museum and demonstrates its value as a strategically positioned research collection in a developing continent. Modern methods for integ...

Afrotropical Ornithodoros (Ornithodoros) ticks are revised based on qualitative morphology of females and nymphs, as well as tarsus I shape outlines of females measured in a geometric morphometric framework. These lines of evidence corroborate lineages based on 16S rRNA nucleotide sequence data. Four previously unrecognized species are described, a...

Ticks are important ectoparasites and vectors of pathogens for human and veterinary medicine. Currently, limited information about ticks in Sudan and their exact geographical distribution is available. In the present study, ticks collected from livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels and dogs) in the Sudanese states of West Darfur, River Ni...

Erratum to Fig. 16 - Cabralis pallidus n. sp.

The correct version of Figure 16: FIGURE 16. Cabralis pallidus n. sp., habitus, paratype, female, Entabeni Forest Reserve, South Africa, Database no.: NEUR00006.

Afrotropical Psychopsidae Handlirsch are revised based on morphology. Molecular data from a previous study enables updated taxonomy in this revision, and morphology corroborates phylogenetic divergences. The genus Silveira was found to form a lineage separate from Zygophlebiinae based on molecular data and six morphological synapomorphies. In this...

Analysis of anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) data under a variety of analytical parameters for a broadly representative sample of taxa (136 species representing all extant families) recovered a well-resolved and strongly supported tree for the higher phylogeny of Neuropterida that is highly concordant with previous estimates based on DNA sequence d...

Fully illustrated identification guide to the extant subfamilies, genera and species of the Afrotropical Psychopsidae. Please follow the link to access: http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/Afrotropical_Psychopsidae/

Carl Ludwig Koch described Ixodes pilosus in 1844 – 173 years ago. Since that time, the species has come to represent a group of widely variable Ixodes ticks that represent more than one species. Many specimens have been subject to misidentification errors involving Ixodes rubicundus – the Karoo paralysis tick. Hosts of the Ixodes pilosus group inc...

Geometric morphometric analysis, in combination with modern computational power, allows for precise measurements of morphological shape to study even minimal variation. One key challenge, however, is 2D photographs which serve as proxies for 3D structures that introduce measurement error into a dataset by omitting variability in the Z dimension. Th...

Geometric morphometric analysis in combination with modern computational power has revived the study of morphology in contemporary biology. Precise measurements of morphological shape features can be obtained to generate detailed datasets for studying even minimal variation. An advantage of geometric morphometrics is ease of use and affordability,...

Psychopsidae (silky winged lacewings) are a small family of Neuroptera characterized by broad hirsute wings that impart a physical resemblance to moths. The fossil record includes many psychopsid-like taxa from the Late Triassic to Early Oligocene from all major continents. Extant species have a disjunct, tripartite distribution comprising Afrotrop...

The Gertrud Theiler Tick Museum began with Gerald Bedford in 1912. Several scientists have since made contributions in both specimen depositions and scientific study. This has elevated the collection to stand as the largest housing African ticks globally. Museums in 21st century biology play an important role in light of the biodiversity crisis and...

The Psychopsidae are a small family of Neuropterous insects that possess broad wings – creating a physical likeness to moths. Globally, they show a disjunct tripartite distribution (comprising of sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Australia) pointing to an ancient Gondwanan origin for the group. This study aims to explore the evolutionary hist...

Morphometric dissimilarity metrics aim to quantify the variation between compared specimens such that inferences about their relatedness and alpha taxonomy can be made. Recently, the technique has developed metrics that purport to quantify shape dissimilarity between specimens—employing the use of least squares regression analysis. These metrics ha...

The Psychopsidae are a small family of Neuropterous insects that possess broad wings – creating a physical likeness to moths. Globally, they show a disjunct tripartite distribution (comprising of sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Australia) pointing to a Gondwanan origin for the group. The study aims to: 1) Revise the African taxa and 2) Reco...

Biological collections serve many purposes. Firstly, they aid in educating the public about biology, and secondly, they aid in developing biology itself by providing historical specimens that can be used to study biology over large time scales in a comparative framework. The potential value of biological collections can be found in diverse fields s...

Biological collections are valuable libraries of reference for scientific endeavor. Museums are a well-known form of biological collections, but collections can range from museums to personal collections and also include virus and bacteria banks. Museums may be divided into the museum proper, and the research museum. The former is for public displa...