Ectoparasites and other ectosymbiotic arthropods of vertebrates in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA

Abstract

We review previously published accounts of ectoparasites and other ectosymbiotic arthropods of vertebrates and report on the collections from 4 species of reptiles, 54 species of birds, and 47 species of mammals from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, or immediately adjacent lands in North Carolina and Tennessee, USA. Our list includes 1 species of beetle, 2 hemipteran bugs, 9 flies, at least 42 species of lice, 23 species of fleas, and at least 75 species of Acari (11 ticks/64 mites). We discuss the potential for transmission of pathogens by these ectoparasites and the relevance of disjunct populations of boreal species at high elevations in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Zoonotic Infections Among Employees from Great Smoky Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Parks, 2008–2009

“…Though other studies have investigated zoonotic disease risks among national parks (Boyer et al 1977;McLean et al 1989;New et al 1993;Gese et al 1997;Mills et al 1998;Paul et al 2002;Reeves 2007;Levine et al 2008;Wong et al 2009), none have addressed the breadth of pathogens evaluated here. These parks were selected due to their popularity among visitors and the likelihood of the presence of local zoonoses.…”

“…These ecosystems include a variety of native wildlife and associated arthropods which may carry pathogens that cause zoonotic infections from direct animal or vector-borne contact (Rayor 1985;McLean et al 1989;New et al 1993;Taylor et al 1997;Gese et al 1997;Mills et al 1998;Rhyan et al 2001;Riley et al 2004;Reeves 2007;Greger 2007;Winters et al 2008).…”

What is the Risk for Exposure to Vector-Borne Pathogens in United States National Parks?

“…Six of the 16 tick-related records addressed the Rocky Mountain wood tick in Rocky Mountain National Park, including studies on the ecology of Colorado tick fever virus during an outbreak of Colorado tick fever among park visitors in the early 1970s (Carey et al 1980;Bowen et al 1981;McLean et al 1981McLean et al , 1989McLean et al , 1993a) and a recent study on the tickÕs life history . Other studies dealt with outbreaks of relapsing fever in Grand Canyon National Park (Boyer et al 1977, Paul et al 2002, the life history of the blacklegged tick in Morristown National Historical Park or along the Appalachian Trail Smith 1997, 1998;Oliver and Howard 1998), tick-host-pathogen associations on Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Assateague Island National Seashore (Oliver et al 1999), surveys for ticks and tick-borne pathogens in Yosemite National Park (Schwan et al 1993, Fleer et al 2011, and surveys for ectoparasites on vertebrates in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Reeves et al 2007, Parker et al 2009). Other relevant studies, not recovered in the search but known to us, reported on the detection of E. chaffeensis from A. americanum ticks collected on Fire Island National Seashore (Mixson et al 2006) and public education and Lyme disease prevention in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Hakim and Bitto 2005).…”

Eukaryotic ectosymbionts of Acari

“…For mammals, for example, one might expect species of the family Myobiidae cling to the hairs and Pediculochelidae, Cheyletidae and Cheyletiellidae as their predators hold on to the surface of the epidermis, (Nutting 1985). Four species of reptiles, 54 species of birds, and 47 species of mammals from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Montana carried one species of beetle, two hemipteran bugs, nine flies, at least 42 species of lice, 23 species of fleas and at least 75 species of Acari (11 ticks/64 mites) as ectoparasites and ectosymbionts (Reeves et al. 2007).…”