Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting medium-sized wild mammals in southwestern Tennessee. 1993

T M Kollars
Field Services, Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, TN 38104.

Seven species of ixodid ticks (n = 2,661) were found on medium-sized wild mammals (n = 295) during a 13-mo study in Shelby County, Tennessee. The seven tick species collected were Dermacentor variabilis (Say), Amblyomma americanum (L.), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille), Ixodes texanus (Banks), I. cookei (Packard), I. scapularis (Say), and Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard). The raccoon had the greatest tick species diversity in all of the aforementioned ticks except H. leporispalustris and R. sanguineus. The raccoon and opossum accounted for 96.9% of the ticks collected and were the most commonly captured medium-sized mammals. The only tick collected in high enough numbers for statistical analysis was D. variabilis. Mammal species and habitat type were the most important factors affecting the mean number of adult D. variabilis per mammal. The mean number of D. variabilis adults carried by raccoons was significantly higher than opossums. Whether a habitat occurred within Memphis city limits or outside city limits also affected the number of adult D. variabilis on mammals. The interaction between habitat, mammal, and whether inside or outside the city limits was near statistical significance. It is suggested that there is biological significance; within city limits, medium-sized wild mammals are forced into wooded areas where there is a subsequent increase in tick populations in these habitat patches.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008322 Mammals Warm-blooded vertebrate animals belonging to the class Mammalia, including all that possess hair and suckle their young. Mammalia,Mammal
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
D000835 Animals, Wild Animals considered to be wild or feral or not adapted for domestic use. It does not include wild animals in zoos for which ANIMALS, ZOO is available. Animals, Nondomestic,Animals, Nondomesticated,Animals, Feral,Stray Animals,Animal, Feral,Animal, Nondomestic,Animal, Nondomesticated,Animal, Stray,Animal, Wild,Animals, Stray,Feral Animal,Feral Animals,Nondomestic Animal,Nondomestic Animals,Nondomesticated Animal,Nondomesticated Animals,Stray Animal,Wild Animal,Wild Animals
D001096 Arachnid Vectors Members of the class Arachnida, especially SPIDERS; SCORPIONS; MITES; and TICKS; which transmit infective organisms from one host to another or from an inanimate reservoir to an animate host. Arachnid Vector,Vector, Arachnid,Vectors, Arachnid
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
D013714 Tennessee State bounded on the north by Kentucky and Virginia, on the east by North Carolina, on the south by Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and on the west by Arkansas and Missouri.
D013984 Tick Infestations Infestations with soft-bodied (Argasidae) or hard-bodied (Ixodidae) ticks. Infestation, Tick,Infestations, Tick,Tick Infestation
D013987 Ticks Blood-sucking acarid parasites of the order Ixodida comprising two families: the softbacked ticks (ARGASIDAE) and hardbacked ticks (IXODIDAE). Ticks are larger than their relatives, the MITES. They penetrate the skin of their host by means of highly specialized, hooked mouth parts and feed on its blood. Ticks attack all groups of terrestrial vertebrates. In humans they are responsible for many TICK-BORNE DISEASES, including the transmission of ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER; TULAREMIA; BABESIOSIS; AFRICAN SWINE FEVER; and RELAPSING FEVER. (From Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology, 5th ed, pp543-44) Ixodida,Ixodidas,Tick

Related Publications

T M Kollars
May 1994, Journal of medical entomology,
T M Kollars
June 2009, The Onderstepoort journal of veterinary research,
Copied contents to your clipboard!