Absence Of Ectoparasites In Boa Constrictor Amarali (squamata: Boidae) From Anthropic Environments Of The Capivari River Basin, São Paulo State, Brazil

As part of the municipal Epidemiology Surveilance Program of Brazilian Spotted Fever of Monte Mor county, São Paulo state, 55 free living boas (Boa constrictor amarali) were captured and inspected during a 36 months period, for identification of their ectoparasitic fauna, after notification of their presence by local citizens whose found the animals at a random basis. The weight of boas ranged from 0.1 to 5.75 kg for the 29 captured males (mean 2.56 kg) and 0.1 to 6.9 kg for the 24 captured females (mean 3.49 kg). The length ranged from 0.5 to 1.95 cm for males and 0.5 to 1.85 cm for females, with averages of 1.47 and 1.45 respectively. No macroscopic ectoparasite was found on the inspected individuals. Since boas came from disturbed natural areas, it is possible that the animals are profiting from the anthropic environment, occupying an inadequate environment to maintain their natural populations of ectoparasites.63219222Adis, J., Observações eco-entomológicas da Amazônia: I. Um carrapato ectoparasito da Boa constrictor (1981) Acta Amazonica, 11 (2), p. 407Aragão, H., Ixodidas brasileiros e de alguns paizes limitrophes (1936) Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz., 31 (4), pp. 759-843Candido, D.H., Nunes, L.H., Distribuição espacial dos fragmentos de vegetaç ão arbórea da região metropolitana de Campinas: uma análise com uso de ferramentas de geoprocessamento (2010) REVSBAU, 5 (1), pp. 82-105Cunha, M.C.A.L., Farias, A.M.I., Brito, F.L.C., Serra-Freire, N.M., Ocorrência de amblyomma fuscum Neumann, 1907 (Acari: Ixodidae) em Boa constrictor Linnaeus, 1758 (Reptilia: Boidae) no estado de Pernambuco, Brasil (1999) Entomol. Vectores, 6 (5), pp. 577-579Cunha, M.C.A.L., Farias, A.M.I., Brito, F.L.C., Serra-Freire, N.M., Intensidade de parasitismo de Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) em serpentes da Família Boidae capturadas no Parque dois Irmãos, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil (2003) Entomol. Vectores., 10 (1), pp. 21-29Dantas-Torres, F., Oliveira-Filho, E.F., Soares, A.M., Souza, B.O.F., Valença, R.B.P., Sá, F.B., Ticks infesting amphibians and reptiles in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil (2008) Rev. Bras. Parasitol. Vet., 17 (4), pp. 218-221Figueiredo, M.A.P., Santos, A.C.G., Guerras, R.M.S.N.C., Ectoparasitos de animais silvestres no Maranhão (2010) Pesq. Vet. Bras., 30 (11), pp. 988-990Guimarães, J.H., Tucci, E.C., Barros-Battesti, D.M., (2001) Ectoparasitas de Importância Veterinária, p. 218. , Editora Plêiade/FAPESP, São PauloGuglielmone, A.A., Luciani, C.A., Mangold, A.J., Aspects of the ecology of Amblyomma argentinae Neumann, 1904 [=Amblyomma testudinis (Conil, 1877)] (Acari: Ixodidae) (2001) Syst Appl Acarol., 8, pp. 1-12Censo Demográfico 2010, , http://www.ibge.com.br/home/estatistica/populacao/censo2010/default_uf. shtm, Estado de São Paulo, Acesso em 5 de Novembro de 2010Jacobson, E.R., (2007) Infectious Diseases and Pathology of Reptiles. Color Atlas and Text, p. 716. , Editora CRC Press, Boca RatonMartínez-Morales, M., Cuarón, A.D., Boa constrictor, an introduced predator threatening the endemic fauna on Cozumel Island, Mexico (1999) Biodivers. Conserv., 8, pp. 957-963Nijhof, A.M., Pillay, V., Steyl, J., Prozesky, W., Stoltsz, W.H., Lawrence, J.A., Penzhorn, B.L., Jongejan, F., Molecular characterization of Theileria species sssociated with mortality in four species of african antelopes (2005) J. Clin. Microbiol., 43 (12), pp. 5907-5911Quick, J.S., Reinert, H.K., Cuba, E.R., Odum, R.A., Recent occurrence and dietary habits of Boa constrictor on Aruba, Dutch West Indies (2005) J. Herpetol., 39, pp. 304-307Reed, R.N., Rodda, G.H., Giant constrictors: Biological and management profiles and an establishment risk assessment for nine large species of pythons, anacondas, and the boa constrictor (2009) U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009-1202, p. 302Romero-Nájera, I., Cuarón, A.D., González-Baca, C., Distribution, abundance, and habit use of introduced Boa Constrictor threatening the native biota of Cozumel Island, Mexico (2007) Biodivers. Conserv., 16, pp. 1183-1195Schumaker, T.T.S., Barros, D.M., Notes on the biology of Amblyomma dissimile Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodida) on Bufo marinus (Linnaeus, 1758) from Brazil (1994) Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz., 89 (1), pp. 29-31Thomas, F., Renaud, F., Guégan, J.F., (2006) Parasitism and Ecosystems, p. 221. , Editora Oxford University Press, OxfordTonetti, N., Berggoetz, M., Rühle, C., Pretorius, M., Gern, L., Ticks and tick-borne pathogens from wildlife in the free state province, South Africa (2009) J. Wildl. Dis., 45 (2), pp. 437-44