Attachment site selection of life stages of Ixodes ricinus ticks on a main large host in Europe, the red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Ole Jakob Sørensen²  Idar Lauge Hatlegjerde²  Atle Mysterud¹ 

[1] Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066 Blindern, Oslo, NO-0316, Norway;Nord-Trøndelag University College, Faculty of Nature Resource Sciences, Steinkjer, NO-7729, Norway

关键词: Life stages;    Host preferences;    Tick-borne diseases;    Ticks;    Ixodes ricinus;   

Others  :  1149397
DOI  :  10.1186/s13071-014-0510-x

 received in 2014-07-18, accepted in 2014-10-29,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Ticks and tick-borne diseases are increasing in many areas of Europe and North America due to climate change, while land use and the increased abundances of large hosts play a more controversial role. The pattern of host selection involves a crucial component for tick abundance. While the larvae and nymphs feed on a wide range of different sized hosts, the adult female ticks require blood meal from a large host (>1 kg), typically a deer, to fulfil the life cycle. Understanding the role of different hosts for abundances of ticks is therefore important, and also the extent to which different life stages attach to large hosts.

Findings

We studied attachment site selection of life stages of I. ricinus ticks on a main large host in Europe, the red deer (Cervus elaphus). We collected from 33 felled red deer pieces of skin from five body parts: leg, groin, neck, back and ear. We counted the number of larval, nymphal, adult male and adult female ticks. Nymphs (42.2%) and adult (48.7%) ticks dominated over larvae (9.1%). There were more larvae on the legs (40.9%), more nymphs on the ears (83.7%), while adults dominated in the groins (89.2%) and neck (94.9%).

Conclusions

Large mammalian hosts are thus a diverse habitat suitable for different life stages of ticks. The attachment site selection reflected the life stages differing ability to move. The spatial separation of life stages may partly limit the role of deer in co-feeding transmission cycles.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Mysterud et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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