Graham J. Hickling
Genevieve Pang
Jean I. Tsao
Meghan Fitzgerald
Breann Ross
Eric L. Rulison
Russell L. Burke
Howard Ginsberg
2022
<p><span>Questing behavior and host associations of immature blacklegged ticks, </span><i>Ixodes scapularis</i><span> Say, from the southeastern United States are known to differ from those in the north. To elucidate these relationships we describe host associations of larval and nymphal </span><i>I. scapularis</i><span> from 8 lizard species sampled from 5 sites in the southeastern U.S. Larvae and nymphs attached in greater numbers to larger lizards than to smaller lizards, with differential levels of attachment to different lizard species. Blacklegged ticks are generally attached to skinks of the genus </span><i>Plestiodon</i><span> in greater numbers per unit lizard weight than to anoles (</span><i>Anolis</i><span>) or fence lizards (</span><i>Sceloporus</i><span>). The broad-headed skink, </span><i>Plestiodon laticeps</i><span> (Schneider), was a particularly important host for immature </span><i>I. scapularis</i><span> in our study and in several previous studies of tick–host associations in the southeast. Blacklegged ticks show selective attachment to </span><i>Plestiodon</i><span> lizard hosts in the southeast, but whether this results from behavioral host preferences or from ecological factors such as timing or microhabitat distributions of tick questing and host activity remains to be determined.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1093/jme/tjab181
en
Entomological Society of America
Selective host attachment by Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae): Tick-lizard associations in the southeastern United States
article