Questing Ixodes frontalis (Panzer, 1798) in Bratislava (south-western Slovakia)

Abstract Questing larvae and nymphs of Ixodes frontalis were collected for the first time from vegetation in the Botanical Garden in Bratislava, south-western Slovakia, in the autumn, winter and spring from 2023 to 2025. Previous reports on the occurrence of the species in the country were from the Slovak Karst (eastern Slovakia) and the Zvolen basin (central Slovakia). The identification of ticks is based on morphological and molecular (the cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 ( cox 1) and 16S rRNA genes) characteristics. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the classification of the ticks to a specific gene group together with other European isolates of I. frontalis. Infections of the studied ticks with bacterial ( Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp.) and protozoan ( Babesia/Theileria spp.) tick-borne pathogens have not been confirmed.