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The main sensory organs (the palpal organ and the tarsal sensory complex) were examined by scanning electron microscopy method in parasites of the nasal cavity of the great tit Parus major (Ptilonyssus sairae, Ptilonyssus pari), the rock dove Columba livia (Mesonyssus melloi), and the Eurasian coot Fulica atra (Rallinyssus caudistigmus). It was shown that differences in the topography of sensilla within the tarsal complex correspond to the taxonomic relations between species and genera, whereas differences in the structure of the palpal organ are not associated with the taxonomy and, probably, reflect ecological peculiarities of parasitism.

Ticks of the genus Ixodes were collected in 2010 in the lowland part of Toguchinsk district of Novosibirsk Province (Russia) and in the forest-park area of Novosibirsk Scientific Centre and its outskirts (Sovetskiy district of Novosibirsk), and identified as Ixodes persulcatus (Schulze, 1930) (18 females and 13 males) and Ixodes pavlovskyi (13 females and 10 males). Ten specimens of each sex from each collecting site were examined. The following nine characters were used: the length and width of the scutum (conscutum) and of the gnathosoma in ventral view; the length of palpal segments II—III; the width of the hypostome; the length of idiosoma with scapula, of leg I, of the medial spur on fore coxa (Taiga..., 1985; Filippova, Musatov, 1996; Filippova, Panova, 1998). According to morphometric characters, specimens of Ixodes pavlovskyi collected in the forest-park area of the Novosibirsk Scientific Centre were identified as the subspecies I. p. occidentalis Filippova et Panova, 1998. Nucleotide sequences of the COI mitochondrial gene fragment were determined for 56 ticks. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI gene fragment in representatives of the persulcatus-ricinus species-group dwelling in Asia demonstrated high degree of conservatism. Molecular-genetic methods allow reliable identification of morphologically similar species I. pavlovskyi and I. persulcatus, pathogenic for humans.

The history of the study of bloodsucking mosquitoes, sand flies, black flies, and horse flies in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Province is observed. At present, 38 mosquito species of 5 genera, 67 black fly species of 17 genera, 24 species of bloodsucking sand flies of the genus Culicoides, and 36 horse fly species of 6 genera were revealed in the territory of the region. The analysis of 267 collecting sites of 165 species of 30 genera of bloodsucking insects allowed revealing the most widespread species. The species composition of bloodsucking dipterans in the region is examined insufficiently. Till present, eastern and central (near the Ladoga Lake) parts of the region examined, and also the northern part of the Karelian Isthmus remain poorly studied. The last collections of bloodsucking insects of the "gnus" complex were performed more that 30 years ago.

The character of distribution of two species from the genus Ixodes, the Taiga tick Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes pavlovskyi in the plain part of Western Siberia is analyzed. The northern border of the range of I. persulcatus in HMAO-Ugra was clarified on the basis of long-term data on the population density of adult and immature ticks (1960—2011). The shift of the southern border of the species range in Western Siberia at the background of anthropogenic transformation (forest restoring activity, stopped sanitary forest cutting, road construction etc) is demonstrated; peculiarities of the distribution of the Taiga tick in some localities of the southwestern Siberia is analyzed. The modern state of the tick population in the joint dwelling zone of I. persulcatus and I. pavlovskyi is characterized. Possible reasons of changes in the structure of tick communities toward total prevalence of I. pavlovskyi in recreation zones of Novosibirsk and Tomsk are discussed. It is noted that the most significant changes in the character of distribution of these two tick species in Western Siberia had evidently occurred after 1990. Just in this period, local stable populations of the Taiga tick to the south of its main range in Western Siberia (within Omsk and Novosibirsk Provinces) were formed; the character of its distribution in the right bank of the Ob River (Novosibirsk Province) and in the valley of the Tom River (Tomsk Province) had changed; I. pavlovskyi became the dominating species.

The data on species diversity of trematodes from bats collected in the Middle Volga Region are summarized. According to original and literary data, 20 trematode species were recorded in bats of the region examined. Plagiorchis elegans, Lecithodendrium skrjabini, L. rysavyi, Prosthodendrium hurkovaae, and Pycnoporus megacotyle are specified for the bat fauna of Russia for the first time. For 11 species of parasites, new hosts are recorded. The analysis of bat helminthes demonstrated that the fauna of trematodes of the northern bat (12 species of trematodes), of the pond, and of the Brandt's bats is the most diverse, constituting more than 10 parasite species per bat species. The largest number of final hosts in the Middle Volga Region is characteristic of Plagiorchis koreanus and Prosthodendrium chilostomum; the latter species were revealed in 8 and 7 bat species, respectively. Trematodes of bats possess a high degree of host specificity. 17 species parasitize exclusively in bats out of 20 parasite species registered for the order Chiroptera. Only 3 species (Plagiorchis elegans, P. vespertilionis, and Prosthodendrium chilostomum) show wide degree of specificity, being found in other animals. Taxonomic position, the circle of hosts, collecting sites, and brief data in biology and geographical distribution for each helminth species are specified. Morphological descriptions and original figures for all the trematode species revealed in bats of the Middle Volga Region are given.

The color of the broodsac sporocyst traditionally serves as the main taxonomic criterion for distinguishing of trematodes of the genus Leucochloridium. Broodsacs of L. paradoxum (Cams, 1835) are green, while broodsacs of L. perturbation (Pojmanska, 1969) are brown. We used molecular genetic analysis of sporocyst rDNA for verifying the accuracy of the mentioned morphological criteria. Trematode infected snails Succinea sp. were collected in Vyritsa and Lyuban (Leningrad Province, Russia). Nucleotide sequences of L. paradoxum (n = 18) and L. perturbatum (n = 10) rDNA including transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and 5.8 S rRNA gene were received. rDNA fragments of Leucochloridium sp. sporocysts of the same color were identical. The difference in the ITS1 (2.6 %) and ITS2 (6.7 %) between sequences of L. paradoxum and L. perturbatum was revealed. Specific nucleotide sequences are deposited at the GeneBank.

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