Ixodid ticks associated with feral swine in Texas

Survey for ticks on feral swine within a cattle fever tick-infested landscape in Texas, U.S.A.

“…Keirans and Durden (1998) provided a key morphological character for separation of nymphs of the two species, but we find the distinction to be difficult and unreliable to use in practice. Like both Coombs and Springer (1974) and Sanders et al (2013), who also surveyed ticks on feral swine in the Texas Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes ecoregion, we found no A. americanum on our Cameron County animals, an observation supported by decades of identification records at the NVSL (unpublished data) suggesting that lone star ticks are present but uncommon to rare in this region. At present, A. americanum larvae are morphologically indistinguishable from those of both A. mixtum and A. tenellum, but given the absence of both adults and nymphs of this species in our survey, we believe that no larvae were present, either.…”

“…Hilburn et al (1989) surveyed for A. tenellum in six South Texas counties but found them in only Cameron and Hidalgo Counties. The collective studies of Coombs and Springer (1974) and Sanders et al (2013) in Aransas and San Patricio Counties were both within the sporadic range of A. tenellum in Texas, and the latter report actually remarked on the absence of A. tenellum in sampled ticks, even though many hundreds of A. mixtum were present. Given the preceding observations and the fact that our survey evidently is the first to collect ticks from feral swine in the southern-most counties of Texas, we believe our report is the first for A. tenellumunder any of its three names-from this host species.…”

“…However, after 1958, such ticks might have been distinguished as A. imitator, although we can find no published accounts of such collection records. To our knowledge, only Coombs and Springer (1974) and Sanders et al (2013) have studied and reported on ticks from feral swine in South Texas since 1958, and six of the eight localities they sampled lie north of the known occurrence of A. tenellum in Texas. More than 50 years of records at the NVSL (unpublished data) indicate that most Texas collections of A. tenellum from all hosts are concentrated in the southern-most tip of the state, i.e., Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr Counties, but sporadic and scattered collections have come from 10 more northerly counties as far north as Karnes County.…”

“…At present, A. americanum larvae are morphologically indistinguishable from those of both A. mixtum and A. tenellum, but given the absence of both adults and nymphs of this species in our survey, we believe that no larvae were present, either. Dermacentor halli typically infests the collared peccary, Pecari tajacu (L.), but where the peccary's range overlaps with that of feral swine, this tick also may use the latter as hosts (Sanders et al 2013).…”

Active surveillance to update county scale distribution of four tick species of medical and veterinary importance in Oklahoma

“…This study also established a baseline distribution map for D. albipictus , a one‐host tick found on horses, cattle, elk, white‐tailed deer, and feral swine (Sanders et al ) in the Oklahoma/Texas region. A known vector for A. marginale , the causative agent of bovine anaplasmosis, very little is known concerning the ecology and habits of this tick in the southern Great Plains region, especially in regards to interactions with cattle (Drummond ).…”