Some Factors Affecting Infestation of White-Tailed Deer by Blacklegged Ticks and Winter Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Southeastern Missouri

Abstract

A total of 5,669 ticks of 4 species was collected from 515 hunter killed, white-tailed deer. Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmerman), in southeastern Missouri from 1993 through 1995. The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (4 adults), the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.) (57 adults, 2 nymphs), the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say) (3,120 adults), and the winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus (Packard) (2.059 adults, 436 nymphs, 1 larva) were collected. Patterns of adult D. albipictus and I. scapularies infesting deer were analyzed with respect to upland versus lowland habitat, county, and host sex. Prevalence and intensity of infestation by D. albipictus were higher on bucks than does, and a higher infestation prevalence was recorded for this tick on deer from upland than from lowland habitats. Mean intensities for D. albipictus were not significantly different between counties. Prevalence and mean intensity of infestation for I. scapularis were significantly higher on deer from uplands than lowlands and on bucks than does; mean intensities also differed between counties for this tick. Because adjacent populations, as well as the sex of the host, can differ in infestation rates, differences between local populations of I. scapularis should be recognized to optimize tick surveys and population models.

County-Level Surveillance of White-Tailed Deer Infestation by <I>Ixodes scapularis</I> and <I>Dermacentor albipictus</I> (Acari: Ixodidae) Along the Illinois River

“…The observation that bucks were signiÞcantly more infested by both tick species was in agreement with previous studies (Main et al 1981, French et al 1992, Kitron et al 1992, Amerasinghe et al 1993, Kollars et al 1997. In addition, infested bucks were more widespread across the study area.…”

“…Deer are the principal hosts for adult I. scapularis (Piesman et al 1979, Piesman 2002; tick abundance is positively correlated with deer density (Wilson et al 1985(Wilson et al , 1990Rand et al 2003), and the removal of deer (through exclusion or elimination) results in dramatic reductions in immature I. scapularis populations (Wilson et al 1988, Daniels et al 1993, Deblinger et al 1993, Stafford 1993. The one-host winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus (Packard), also has probably beneÞted from deer population recovery, particularly in areas such as Illinois where deer are the sole wild ungulates and as a result, the tickÕs principal host (Demarais et al 1987;Samuel and Welch 1991;Welch et al 1991;Kollars et al 1997Kollars et al , 2000.…”

Amblyomma americanum tick calreticulin binds C1q but does not inhibit activation of the classical complement cascade

“…In nature different tick species can be found feeding on the same animal host simultaneously (Durden et al, 1991, Kollars et al, 1997). This implies that different species of ticks that feed on the same host have to overcome the same host anti-tick defense mechanisms to complete feeding.…”

Experimental Infection of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginanus) with Heartland Virus

“…10 None of these species developed detectable viremia or pathologic changes with the exception of Ag129 mice, which are interferon α/β/γ receptor deficient. 10 Several factors suggest WTD could be a host for HRTV, including the detection of seropositive WTD, 8 the likelihood of A. americanum to feed on deer, 11 and the high density and widespread geographic range of WTD populations. 12 Whitetailed deer are known to be exposed naturally and experimentally susceptible to systemic infection by viruses of the related Orthobunyavirus genus, such as Jamestown Canyon virus and La Crosse virus, without the development of clinical disease.…”