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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">102</journal-id>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="index">urn:lsid:arphahub.com:pub:73abe0ce-d97c-5d7c-bee5-b8e6e6fe6a17</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title xml:lang="en">ARPHA Preprints</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title xml:lang="en">preprints</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Pensoft Publishers</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3897/arphapreprints.e102387</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">102387</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Research Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="biological_taxon">
          <subject>Ixodida</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="scientific_subject">
          <subject>Biodiversity &amp; Conservation</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="geographical_area">
          <subject>Europe</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Molecular characterisation of three <italic>Ixodes</italic> (<italic>Pholeoixodes</italic>) species (Ixodida, Ixodidae) and the first record of <italic>Ixodes</italic> (<italic>Pholeoixodes</italic>) <italic>kaiseri</italic> from Slovakia</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group content-type="authors">
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Krumpálová</surname>
            <given-names>Zuzana</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2246-6533</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Mangová</surname>
            <given-names>Barbara</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Purgatová</surname>
            <given-names>Slávka</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Didyk</surname>
            <given-names>Yuliya M.</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Kazimírová</surname>
            <given-names>Mária</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:type="simple">maria.kazimirova@savba.sk</email>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6904-8342</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="A1">
        <label>1</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Constantine the Philosopher University, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Nitra, Slovakia</addr-line>
        <institution>Constantine the Philosopher University, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Nitra</addr-line>
        <country>Slovakia</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A2">
        <label>2</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia</addr-line>
        <institution>Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Bratislava</addr-line>
        <country>Slovakia</country>
      </aff>
      <author-notes>
        <fn fn-type="corresp">
          <p>Corresponding author: Mária Kazimírová (<email xlink:type="simple">maria.kazimirova@savba.sk</email>).</p>
        </fn>
        <fn fn-type="edited-by">
          <p>Academic editor: </p>
        </fn>
      </author-notes>
      <pub-date pub-type="collection">
        <year>2023</year>
      </pub-date>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>22</day>
        <month>02</month>
        <year>2023</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>4</volume>
      <uri content-type="arpha" xlink:href="http://openbiodiv.net/2DDF5407-04C3-5E85-8CFD-2A8D55CE7D65">2DDF5407-04C3-5E85-8CFD-2A8D55CE7D65</uri>
      <history>
        <date date-type="received">
          <day>20</day>
          <month>02</month>
          <year>2023</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>20</day>
          <month>02</month>
          <year>2023</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Zuzana Krumpálová, Barbara Mangová, Slávka Purgatová, Yuliya M. Didyk, Mária Kazimírová</copyright-statement>
        <license license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">
          <license-p>This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <label>Abstract</label>
        <p>A study of ticks on wildlife was carried out in the area of Levice, Bratislava, Stupava and Vrbovce (south-western Slovakia) during the years 2021-2022. Overall, 512 ticks were collected from 51 wild mammalian individuals of six species. In total, eight tick species were identified, namely <i>Dermacentor reticulatus</i>, <i>D. marginatus</i>, <i>Haemaphysalis inermis</i>, <i>H. concinna</i>, <i>Ixodes ricinus</i>, <i>I</i>. <i>hexagonus</i> and two <i>Ixodes </i>spp. <i>Ixodes hexagonus</i> were collected from Northern white-breasted hedgehogs (<i>Erinaceus roumanicus</i>), females belonging to <i>Ixodes </i>spp. were collected from a red fox (<i>Vulpes vulpes</i>) and nymphs from a Eurasian badger (<i>Meles meles</i>). <i>Ixodes hexagonus</i> and the <i>Ixodes</i> spp. were identified morphologically and molecularly based on sequences of fragments of two mitochondrial genes, <i>COI</i> and 16S rRNA. Molecular analysis of <i>Ixodes</i> spp. confirmed the identity of <i>Ixodes kaiseri</i> Arthur, 1957 and <i>I</i>. <i>canisuga</i> (Johnston, 1849). Sequence analyses show that the <i>I.</i> <i>kaiseri </i>isolate from Slovakia is identical to <i>I. kaiseri </i>isolates from Romania, Poland, Germany, Turkey, and Croatia. We demonstrate for the first time the presence of <i>I</i>. <i>kaiseri</i> in Slovakia using both morphological and molecular methods.</p>
      </abstract>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
