Spiracle Structure in Ticks (Ixodida: Anactinotrichida: Arachnida): Résumé, Taxonomic and Functional Significance

Pugh, Philip

doi:10.1111/j.1469-185x.1997.tb00023.x

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A closely related mesic species, I. ricinus , has high cuticular permeability compared to xeric ticks (Hadley, 1994). Additionally, ticks in Prostriata (the clade including Ixodes ) have greater respiratory transpiration losses than ticks in Metastriata (the clade including Amblyomma and Dermacentor ) due to the unique morphology of the prostriate spiracle (Pugh, 1997; Pugh et al, 1990). This indicates that I. scapularis is hydrophilic, as is typical of other species in the genus Ixodes (Benoit et al, 2007; Yoder et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic stress decreases tick survival but increases rate of host‐seeking behavior

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ticks are vectors of many diseases and are expanding in geographic distribution. However, how ticks will fare in their new environments, where they may experience stressful climatic conditions at the expansion front, remains unclear. Since there is a trade-off in ticks between behaviors that promote longevity and behaviors that promote reproduction, we hypothesized that extreme climatic stress reduces the survivorship of ticks but increases the frequency of tick host-seeking behavior, or questing. Here, we used a novel method to simulate climatic stress on individual ticks of three species-Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis, and Ixodes scapularis-to evaluate their survival, physiology, and questing behavior. The first experiment involved placing 144 adult ticks of each species in two temperature ranges (15-25 C and 25-35 C) and three relative humidity (RH) treatments (32%, 58%, and 84% RH).We assessed the ticks daily for survivorship and questing, and we measured water loss by comparing the mass of each tick when it died to when it was fully hydrated. In this first experiment, ticks in warmer and less humid conditions generally died faster than those in cooler and more humid conditions. Ticks of all three species were more likely to quest shortly before their death and consistently died after losing approximately 50%-56% of their total body water content, but Ixodes reached that threshold much faster than the other two species.The second experiment involved placing 18 ticks of each species at 35 C and 32% RH. We assessed the ticks every 3 h for survivorship, questing, and water loss. Ticks again were more likely to quest shortly before their death. With frequent checks, we were able to measure the dehydration tolerance more accurately and the rate of water loss. Ticks of all three species consistently died after losing approximately 51% of their total body water content. However, Ixodes lost water approximately 5 times faster than Amblyomma and 11 times faster than Dermacentor. These results demonstrate that severe climatic stress tilts the trade-off toward higher questing rates but not higher overall questing time because of reduced survival rates.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic stress decreases tick survival but increases rate of host‐seeking behavior

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

The spiracle glands in Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Acari: Ixodidae)

Suppan¹,

Walzl²,

Klepal³

2013

Acarologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nuttalliella namaqua Bedford, 1931, a sole extant species of the genus Nuttalliella – a scoping review

Ledwaba,

Malatji

2024

Front. Parasitol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nuttalliella namaqua Bedford, 1931 is the sole extant tick species that belongs to the genus and family Nuttalliella and Nuttalliellidae respectively. With the characteristics that are respectively distinctive to hard and soft ticks, it is regarded as the species closest to the ancestral lineage of ticks as well as the missing link between the Argasidae and Ixodidae families. In this review, literature search of the articles reporting on N. namaqua was done in Google Scholar and PubMed databases. After relevance and eligibility screening, 12 articles were deemed eligible and appraised. The results showed that N. namaqua was respectively distinct to limited regions of Africa such as Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania. The review also indicated that N. namaqua was collected from murid rodents, African Savanna hare, scrub hare, elephant shrews, rock hyraxes, black backed jackal, lizards and off-host in locations that include under a stone, rock crevices, on a rock wall and respectively in the nests of an eagle and a lesser striped swallow. Irrespective of all the reports, natural hosts of the nymphs are still not clearly defined. Numerous phylogeny studies have reported Nuttalliellidae as the sister-lineage to Argasidae and Ixodidae tick families. Moreover, a recent report indicated that the similarities between Nuttalliellidae and the fossil families Deinocrotonidae and Legionaris award them to be merged into one family, preferably Nuttalliellidae Thus, further research on this family, will perhaps provide more knowledge about its unclear distribution, life cycle as well as the evolution of ticks in general.

show abstract

Spiracle Structure in Ticks (Ixodida: Anactinotrichida: Arachnida): Résumé, Taxonomic and Functional Significance

Cited by 4 publications

References 47 publications

Climatic stress decreases tick survival but increases rate of host‐seeking behavior

Climatic stress decreases tick survival but increases rate of host‐seeking behavior

The spiracle glands in Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Acari: Ixodidae)

Nuttalliella namaqua Bedford, 1931, a sole extant species of the genus Nuttalliella – a scoping review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About