Selective Host Attachment by Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae): Tick-Lizard Associations in the Southeastern United States. 2022

Howard S Ginsberg, and Graham J Hickling, and Genevieve Pang, and Jean I Tsao, and Meghan Fitzgerald, and Breann Ross, and Eric L Rulison, and Russell L Burke
U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Field Station at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA.

Questing behavior and host associations of immature blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis 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 I. scapularis 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 Plestiodon in greater numbers per unit lizard weight than to anoles (Anolis) or fence lizards (Sceloporus). The broad-headed skink, Plestiodon laticeps (Schneider), was a particularly important host for immature I. scapularis in our study and in several previous studies of tick-host associations in the southeast. Blacklegged ticks show selective attachment to Plestiodon 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.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007814 Larva Wormlike or grublike stage, following the egg in the life cycle of insects, worms, and other metamorphosing animals. Maggots,Tadpoles,Larvae,Maggot,Tadpole
D008116 Lizards Reptiles within the order Squamata that generally possess limbs, moveable EYELIDS, and EXTERNAL EAR openings, although there are some species which lack one or more of these structures. Chameleons,Geckos,Chameleon,Gecko,Lizard
D009758 Nymph The immature stage in the life cycle of those orders of insects characterized by gradual metamorphosis, in which the young resemble the imago in general form of body, including compound eyes and external wings; also the 8-legged stage of mites and ticks that follows the first moult.
D011156 Population Density Number of individuals in a population relative to space. Overpopulation,Population Size,Underpopulation,Densities, Population,Density, Population,Population Densities,Population Sizes
D006790 Host-Parasite Interactions The relationship between an invertebrate and another organism (the host), one of which lives at the expense of the other. Traditionally excluded from definition of parasites are pathogenic BACTERIA; FUNGI; VIRUSES; and PLANTS; though they may live parasitically. Host-Parasite Relations,Parasite-Host Relations,Host-Parasite Relationship,Parasite-Host Interactions,Host Parasite Interactions,Host Parasite Relations,Host Parasite Relationship,Host-Parasite Interaction,Host-Parasite Relation,Host-Parasite Relationships,Interaction, Host-Parasite,Interaction, Parasite-Host,Interactions, Host-Parasite,Interactions, Parasite-Host,Parasite Host Interactions,Parasite Host Relations,Parasite-Host Interaction,Parasite-Host Relation,Relation, Host-Parasite,Relation, Parasite-Host,Relations, Host-Parasite,Relations, Parasite-Host,Relationship, Host-Parasite,Relationships, Host-Parasite
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001179 Arthropod Vectors Arthropods, other than insects and arachnids, which transmit infective organisms from one host to another or from an inanimate reservoir to an animate host. Arthropod Vector,Vector, Arthropod,Vectors, Arthropod
D012621 Seasons Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal
D013045 Species Specificity The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species. Species Specificities,Specificities, Species,Specificity, Species
D013984 Tick Infestations Infestations with soft-bodied (Argasidae) or hard-bodied (Ixodidae) ticks. Infestation, Tick,Infestations, Tick,Tick Infestation

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