STUDYING THE MORPHOLOGY OF OTODECTES CYNOTIS TICKS

Abstract

The article presents morphological and biological studies of scabies mites of the species Otodectes cynotis. The causative agent of ear scabies, Otodectes cynotis mites, was first discovered in dogs. Canestrini G., having studied the morphology of pathogens that cause ear scabies in different animal species, identified these mites as an independent genus Otodectes with two species: Otodectes cynotis and Otodectes furonis. The ambiguity in the data on the morphology of ticks makes it difficult to differentiate them and determine the species, and hence the correct diagnosis of the disease, especially in cases where only larvae and nymphs are found in the material from the animal. Information on the morphology of ticks, in our opinion, is very necessary. Also contradictory is the information at what age the female individual copulates and is inseminated by the male: in the telenymph phase or in the imago phase. This question is relevant for the reason that it explains the invasiveness of individual phases of the life cycle of the pathogen. Analyzing the literature data on the morphology and biology of O. cynotis, we came to the conclusion that their inconsistency is mainly due to the fact that the authors used light-optical microscopes to study otodectes mites, the resolution of which is much lower compared to electronic ones.

The study of morphology was carried out using the SEM method. The features of the life cycle of otodectes have been specified.