Phylogeny relationship of Ixodes scapularis cystatins to other tick cystatins. I. scapularis tick cystatins and other tick cystatins (Table 1) were downloaded from GeneBank. The downloaded sequences were subjected to guide phylogeny analysis using the neighbor-joining method in the Geneious sequence analysis software. ISCW Ixodes scapularis, AmMac Amblyomma americanum, AmVar A. variegatum, DmVar Demacentor variabilis, OrMou Ornithodoros moubata, OrPar O. parkeri, OrCor O. cor, HaLo Haemaphysalis longicornis, RhiSan Rhipicephalus sanguineus, RhiMi Rhipicephalus microplus. SC subclade