RESULTS

A total of 82 vials, containing 191 A. varium specimens, were examined. The Brazilian distribution of A. varium, according to the collection material and literature records, is shown in Fig. 1A.

IBSP _ Butantan Institute

The IBSP collection includes 44 vials with 117 specimens from the states of São Paulo (SP), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Bahia (BA), Amazonas (AM), and Alagoas (AL) (94 males, 19 females and 4 nymphs).

Municipalities with A. varium records: SP _ Cubatão (23º89'S 46º42'W); Mogi das Cruzes (23º52'S 46º18'W); Praia Grande (24º05'S 46º40'W); São Paulo (23º54'S 46º63'W); São Vicente (23º96'S 46º39'W); Ubatuba (23º43'S 45º07'W); RJ _ Campos dos Goytacazes (21º75'S 41º32'W); Casimiro de Abreu (22º48'S 42º20'W); Campo Grande and Floresta da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro (22º90'S 43º20'W); BA _ Camacan (15º41'S 39º49'W); Ubatã (14º21'S 39º52'W).

Host: Bradypus tridactylus Linnaeus _ 13 vials with 34 specimens (IBSP 721, 2 males from Cubatão, 15/VIII/1934, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 722, 2 males and 1 female from Cubatão, 15/VIII/1934, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 798, 3 males from Cubatão, 16/I/1935, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 799, 3 males from Cubatão, 12/IX/1935, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 801, 2 males from Cubatão, 08/VII/1935, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 862, 1 male from São Paulo, 01/X/1934, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 1090, 1 male from Praia Grande, XI/1935, H. Salibas coll.; IBSP 1190, 1 male with no locality data, 16/XI/1937, coll. unknown; IBSP 1225, 3 males from Ubatuba, 27/XII/1937, coll. unknown; IBSP 4902, 7 males and 1 female, locality unknown, 22/XII/1952, Emilio Guerra coll.; IBSP 4969, 3 males and 1 female from São Vicente, 09/VI/1954, Firmino coll.; IBSP 4988, 1 male, locality unknown, 24/II/1955, coll. unknown; IBSP 7126, 1 male and 1 female from Floresta da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, 09/III/2001, Lilian MQ Lima coll.).

Host: Bradypus variegatus Schinz _ 8 vials with 20 specimens (IBSP 6848, 2 males and 1 female from Parque Morumbi, São Paulo, 14/IV/1998, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 6916, 1 female from Parque Morumbi, São Paulo, 14/IX/1998, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7072, 7 males and 1 female, locality unknown, 06/III/2001, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7075, 2 females from Parque Alfredo Volpi, São Paulo, 12/VII/2000, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7076, 1 female from Parque Alfredo Volpi, São Paulo, 12/VII/2000, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7077, 1 female from Parque Alfredo Volpi, São Paulo, 12/VII/2000, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7309, 1 female, locality unknown, 06/III/2001, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7166, 2 males and 1 female from Parque Alfredo Volpi, São Paulo, 12/VII/2000, A Joppert coll.).

Host: Bradypus torquatus Illiger _ 13 vials with 45 specimens (IBSP-7071, 1 male and 1 female from Ubatã, 30/VII/2000, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7074, 2 males from Camacan, 27/VII/2000, A Joppert coll.; IBSP 7082, 1 male from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1985, coll. unknown; IBSP 7083, 8 males and 1 nymph from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1985, coll. unknown; IBSP 7084, 2 males from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1986, coll. unknown; IBSP 7085, 4 males from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1986, coll. unknown; IBSP 7086, 1 female from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1986, coll. unknown; IBSP 7087, 5 males from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1985, coll. unknown; IBSP 7088, 1 female from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1985, coll. unknown; IBSP 7089, 3 males from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1985, coll. unknown; IBSP 7090, 4 males from Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, 1984, coll. unknown; IBSP 7093, 4 males, 1 female and 3 nymphs from Reserva Biológica Poço das Antas, Casimiro de Abreu, 1984, coll. unknown; IBSP 7094, 4 males from Campos dos Goytacazes, 24/V/1982, SM Vaz coll.).

Host: Choloepus hoffmanni Peter _ 1 vial with 5 specimens (IBSP-1174, 5 males, locality unknown, from the State of Amazonas, 01/XI/1937, P Savoya coll.).

Host: sloth _ 6 vials with 10 specimens (IBSP 800, 1 male from São Paulo, 21/VIII/1935, F Fonseca coll.; IBSP 1489, 2 males, locality unknown, 10/IX/1938, coll. unknown; IBSP 3992b, 1 male, locality unknown, 06/VII/1956, I Sherlock coll.; IBSP 4280, 4 males from Mogi das Cruzes, 03/II/1942, Dagoberto Pinto coll.; IBSP 5929, 1 female from Rio de Janeiro, 22/X/1958, H Sick coll.; IBSP 7078, 1 female, locality unknown, from the State of Alagoas, 2000, IBAMA coll. donated by JVL Firmino).

Undetermined host _ 3 vials with 3 specimens (IBSP 1275, 1 male, locality coll. unknown, donated by A Prado in 1914; IBSP 4501, 1 male from Northeast, 12/XII/1951, Oliveira Lima coll.; IBSP 7121, 1 female, locality unknown, 23/IX/1942, coll. unknown).

FMVZ/USP-CNC National Tick Collection

The FMVZ/USP-CNC includes 6 vials with 9 specimens (4 males and 5 females) from the states of São Paulo (SP) and Rondônia (RO).

Municipalities with A. varium records: SP _ São Bernardo do Campo (23º69'S 46º56'W) and Sorocaba (23º50'S 47º45'W); RO _ Monte Negro (10º17'S 63º14'W).

Host: B. tridactylus _ 2 vials with 2 specimens (FMVZ/USP-CNC 282, 1 male from São Bernardo do Campo Zoological Gardens, XI/1999, MB Labruna coll.; FMVZ/USP-CNC 293, 1 male from the same locality, 28/IV/2000, MB Labruna coll.).

Host: B. variegatus _ 1 vial with 4 specimens (FMVZ/USP-CNC 497, 2 males and 2 females from Sorocaba Zoological Gardens, 08/VI/2001, MB Labruna coll.).

Host: Choloepus sp. _ 1 vial with 1 specimen (FMVZ/USP-CNC 562, 1 male from Monte Negro, 10/VIII/2001, MB Labruna coll.).

Host: sloth _ 1 vial with 1 specimen (FMVZ/USP-CNC 269, 1 female from Sorocaba Zoological Gardens, X/1999, MB Labruna coll.).

Free in the environment _ 1 specimen (FMVZ/USP-CNC 540, 1 male from Monte Negro, 19/VI/2001, MB Labruna coll.).

The female from vial FMVZ/USP-CNC 269 was collected alive. It weighted 4100 mg, and layed 2100 mg of eggs in the laboratory. The male from vial FMVZ/USP-CNC 282 was collected as an engorged nymph that posteriorly molted in the laboratory and the male from vial FMZV/USP-CNC 540 was collected as a nymph, by drag-sampling on the vegetation. This nymph molted into a male after feeding on a rabbit (MB Labruna, personal communication).

MZUSP _ Zoology Museum of the Universidade de São Paulo

The MZUSP collection includes only one vial with two specimens.

Host: sloth _ A vial with two specimens from Caraguatatuba (SP) (23º62'S 45º41'W) (MZUSP 17067,
2 males, 1957, coll. unknown).

INPA _ National Institute of the Amazon Research

The INPA collection includes 26 vials with 38 specimens (32 males and 6 females) identified by JE Keirans from the Georgia University, Statesboro, GA, USA. All vials are from Manaus (03º10'S 60º02'W), State of Amazonas (AM).

Host: B. tridactylus _ 23 vials with 33 specimens (RML 109171, 1 male, 1977, J Adis coll.; RML 109179, 1 male, 1977, J Adis coll.; RML 112755, 1 male, 15/V/1978; RML 112769, 1 male, 26/IV/1978, J Waage coll.; RML 112782, 1 male, 31/V/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112792, 2 females, 31/V/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112801, 2 males, 28/VIII/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112863, 1 female, 12/X/1977, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112884, 2 females, 26/III/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112907, 1 male, 31/V/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112920, 1 male, 10/IX/1977, Jack Hayes coll.; RML 112932, 1 male, 29/I/1979, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112935, 1 male, 25/VI/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112954, 1 male, 19/IX/1977, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112967, 2 males, 27/III/1976, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112970, 4 males, 5-7/XII/1978, Daniel coll.; RML 112996, 1 male, 12/II/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112999, 4 males, 26/III/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 113115, 1 female, 16/II/1978, Robin C Best coll.; RML 113126, 1 male, 10/VII/1979, Robin C Best coll.; RML 113147, 1 male, 10/V/1979, Robin C Best coll.; RML 113163, 1 male, 15/X/1977, Robin C Best coll.; RML 113169, 1 male, 28/V/1979, Robin C Best coll.).

Host: C. didactylus Linnaeus _ 2 vials with 4 specimens (RML 112799, 1 male, 11/IV/1979, Robin C Best coll.; RML 112866, 3 males, 01/II/1979, Robin C Best coll.).

Host: sloth _ 1 vial with 1 specimen (RML 112968, 1 male, 24/IV/1978, Robin C Best coll.).

MPEG _ Emilio Goeldi Museum

The MPEG collection includes 5 vials with 25 specimens (21 males and 4 females) from Jacundá (04º45'S 49º11'W), Belém (01º45'S 48º50'W) and Parauepebas (06º06'S 49º90'W), State of Pará (PA).

Host: sloth _ 3 vials with 4 specimens (MPEG 1b, 1 male from margem direita do Rio Tocantins, Jacundá, 12/V/1984, WL Overal, coll.; MPEG 3, 2 females from parque of the Museum Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, 13/III/1984, A Muniz coll.; MPEG 37, 1 female from of the Museum Paraense Emilio Goeldi, 6/III/1992, José Arnaldo coll.).

Host: Three-toed sloth _ 1 vial with 20 specimens (MPEG 24a, 20 males from Serra Norte, Parauepebas, 5/VII/1983, RB Neto coll.).

Undetermined host _ 1 vial with 1 specimen (MPEG 4, 1 female from Parque of the Museum Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, 13/VII/1984, A Muniz coll.).

Literature records

Host: B. tridactylus _ A. varium males and females from Rio de Janeiro, Xerém and Iguassú (RJ), Lassance and Teixeira Soares (MG), Brasília (Distrito Federal), Belém (PA) and São Paulo (SP) (Aragão 1911, 1936); males from the Parque Zoobotânico of the Emilio Goeldi Museum, Belém (PA) (Serra-Freire et al. 1995); and one female recorded by Amorim and Serra-Freire (1996) from the Fundação RIO/ZOO, Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

Host: B. variegatus _ 5 males and 4 females of A. varium from Ilha de Itamaracá (PE). According to Sinkoc et al. (1997), one of the females was completely engorged and weighed 3.92 g.

Distribution range for sloths in the national territory

Bradypodidae family - The "preguiça-de-coleira" (maned three-toed sloth), B. torquatus (Fig. 1B) occurs in the coastal Atlantic Forest, from south Alagoas to southern São Paulo states. The "preguiça-de-bentinho" (pale-throated three-toed sloth), B. tridactylus (Fig. 1C) is just found in the northern region, from the proximities of the rivers Negro, Amazonas and Solimões to Belém (PA), occurring in Amapá (AP), Amazonas (AM), Pará, and Roraima (RR) states. The "preguiça-ai-ai" (brown-throated three-toed sloth), B. variegatus (Fig. 1D), is well distributed within the country, mainly in the Center-west region, with the exception of the states of Amapá, Roraima, Maranhão (MA), Piauí (PI), Ceará (CE), Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Paraíba (PB), Pernambuco (PE), Alagoas (AL), Sergipe (SE), eastern Bahia (BA) and Minas Gerais (MG), Espírito Santo (ES), and southern region (Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul).

Megalonychidae family - The species C. hoffmanni "unau" or "preguiça real" (Hoffmann's two-toed sloth) (Fig. 1E) is distributed in northern Mato Grosso (MT), Rondônia (RO), Acre (AC), and Amazonas states, while C. didactylus "preguiça real" (southern two-toed sloth) (Fig. 1F) is found in the northern region forests, mainly in the proximities of the rivers Amazonas and Solimões (Amazon Basin). Its distribution includes Acre, Rondônia, Roraima, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins (TO), and possibly the northern Mato Grosso states.