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PubMed1990

Effects of sequential infestations of Dermacentor albipictus and Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) on overwintering beef cows in west-central Texas.

Infestations of winter ticks, Dermacentor albipictus (Packard), observed on mature black Angus cows, reached peak levels in January and diminished through March. Infestations of adult lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum (L.), began in mid-January and increased through May. Cows receiving Ectrin, Taktic, or Deltox treatments on 13 December and 21 February experienced significantly less weight loss and entered the subsequent breeding season with higher average body weight than untreated cows. In a separate study, lactating Brangus and Brangus-cross cows, equally infested by natural populations of these ticks, were provided five supplement treatment regimens, fed individually with quantities adjusted for body weight and condition score. Groups receiving supplementation highest in crude protein and digestible energy lost significantly less weight and experienced the least amount of deterioration in body condition. Performance among these groups was influenced by the amount of digestible energy and the period in which increased levels of digestible energy were fed. Cows receiving the supplement highest in protein coupled with an increase in digestible energy from 10 to 60 Mcal/kg W0.75 on 16 January experienced the smallest average change in condition score and weight parameters.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Bioenergetic consequences of alopecia induced by Dermacentor albipictus (Acari: Ixodidae) on moose.

Fasting metabolic rates, respiration rates, respiratory minute volumes, and fasted weights were measured on three yearling moose (Alces alces (L.)) (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) infested with 50,000 winter ticks. Dermacentor albipictus (Packard) (Acari: Ixodidae), and on two uninfested controls. Infestations produced no detectable effects on fasting metabolic rates or weight changes. The influence of tick-induced alopecia on lower critical temperatures could not be assessed because of warm temperatures during the winter and spring trials. Destruction of winter hair accompanied a reduction in respiratory minute volumes and respiration rates of heat-stressed moose.

Alopecia↗
PubMed1990

Attempted Ehrlichia risticii transmission with Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae).

Larval Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (n = 327) were fed on Balb/C mice inoculated with Ehrlichia risticii, the etiologic agent of equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (Potomac horse fever). All mice displayed clinical signs of E. risticii infection at the time of feeding. After molting, resulting nymphs (n = 74) were fed on susceptible mice. No clinical signs were observed, and the mice remained seronegative for 6 wk after feeding.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Determination of vitellogenin titer in the hemolymph of Dermacentor variabilis (Acarina: Ixodidae) using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Using polyclonal antibodies against Dermacentor variabilis (Say) egg vitellin, we developed an indirect, competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Vitellogenin in the hemolymph of females was quantitatively monitored through feeding (slow feeding and rapid engorgement feeding periods) and postfeeding (preoviposition and oviposition) until death. Vitellogenin concentrations in hemolymph ranged from 1 microgram/ml on the first day of feeding to a maximum of 430 micrograms/ml on the third day of oviposition. The temporal pattern of vitellogenin production in this tick shows a gradual increase in the hemolymph vitellogenin titer throughout the slow feeding period followed by a rapid and substantial rise during the rapid engorgement feeding period and a continuation of this rise in titer through the most productive egg laying part of oviposition. The vitellogenin titer rapidly falls toward the end of oviposition as the tick nears death. There was a 170-fold increase in vitellogenin concentration as measured from the onset of rapid engorgement to the maximum vitellogenin titer. The rapid engorgement feeding period signaled a sharp increase in vitellogenin production.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Apparent incompetence of Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) and fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) as vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi in an Ixodes dammini endemic area of Ontario, Canada.

From April to October 1990, white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque), were examined for ectoparasites on Long Point, Ontario, the only endemic area for Ixodes dammini Clifford, Spielman, Piesman & Corwin and Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner known in Canada. Larval and nymphal I. dammini and Dermacentor variabilis (Packard), and adult fleas Orchopeas leucopus (Baker), Epitedia wenmanni (Rothschild), and Ctenophthalamus pseudagrytes Baker were common on trapped mice. Questing ticks were collected by dragging, near the sites of mouse trapping, from April to November 1990. Indirect immunofluorescent assay established that 58.3% of adult, 17.3% of nymphal, and 0.15% of larval I. dammini questing at Long Point were infected with B. burgdorferi, indicating that infected mammalian reservoir hosts are common. None of 593 adult, 2 nymphal, and 4 larval D. variabilis collected while questing were infected; and only 1 of 322 fleas (O. leucopus) removed from white-footed mice was infected. The fact that no unfed adult D. variabilis and only one flea were infected, in a situation where the probability of exposure of hematophagous ectoparasites is moderately high, suggests that this species of tick and the fleas examined are poor vectors for the Lyme disease spirochete.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Development of Anaplasma ovis (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) in male Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) transferred from infected to susceptible sheep.

The development of Anaplasma ovis was studied in Dermacentor andersoni males transferred from infected to susceptible sheep. Laboratory-reared male D. andersoni were allowed to feed for 6 d on a sheep with ascending A. ovis parasitemia. The ticks were removed and held at room temperature in a humidity chamber for 6 d, after which they were allowed to feed on five susceptible sheep for 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 d. Gut and salivary glands were collected from ticks during the 21-d experiment and examined with light and electron microscopy. Anaplasmosis developed in all susceptible sheep. Colonies of A. ovis were first observed in midgut epithelial cells on the 3rd d ticks fed on the infected sheep, and infection persisted in gut cells throughout the experiment. The first colonies contained one large organism that subsequently gave rise to many reticulated ones, which became electron dense over time. After ticks were transferred to susceptible sheep and began the second feeding, individual A. ovis organisms were found from days 3-9 in muscle cells on the hemocoel side of the gut basement membrane. However, colonies did not develop in these cells, and the host cells did not hypertrophy as did cells similarly infected with A. marginale. A final site of development of A. ovis was in salivary glands. Individual organisms were first seen in acinar cells on the first day that ticks fed on the second calves, and salivary gland infections persisted throughout the 9-d feeding period. Colonies of A. ovis developed in salivary gland acinar cells and organisms within these colonies were initially electron lucent but became electron dense. Multiple colonies often were observed within salivary gland cells and often contained organisms in various stages of development.

Anaplasma↗
PubMed1992

Effects of temperature and humidity on ovipositional biology and egg development of the tropical horse tick, Dermacentor (Anocentor) nitens.

The ovipositional biology and egg development of the tropical horse tick, Dermacentor (Anocentor) nitens (Neumann), was observed at four temperatures (20, 25, 30, and 35 degrees C) and relative humidities (40, 61, 75, and 91% RH). Relative humidity had little effect on length of preoviposition and oviposition periods. With increased rearing temperatures, there was a decrease in both preoviposition and oviposition periods. Oviposition rate increased with temperature and was not affected by relative humidity. Instantaneous rates of oviposition were calculated for each temperature by fitting the data to the logistic growth function. High percentage egg hatch was observed in low saturation deficit environments, and decreased when saturation deficit was increased.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) from Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor albipictus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Oklahoma.

Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from Ixodes scapularis Say and Dermacentor albipictus Packard that were removed as partially fed adults from white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann, in Oklahoma. Isolation in media was accomplished only after homogenates of pooled field-collected ticks were inoculated into laboratory-reared Peromyscus leucopus and reisolated from the urinary bladder into BSK II media. Both isolates were confirmed by western blot analysis and reactivity with monoclonal antibody H5332. These are the first reported isolates of B. burgdorferi from Oklahoma from these two tick species and are the first isolates from ticks from the south-central United States that were infective for laboratory-reared P. leucopus.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Persistence of Anaplasma marginale (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) in male Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) transferred successively from infected to susceptible calves.

The persistence of Anaplasma marginale Theiler in male Dermacentor andersoni Stiles ticks exposed to the organism as adults was studied as the ticks were successively transferred to five susceptible calves. All calves fed upon by these ticks rapidly developed clinical anaplasmosis; incubation periods of infection ranged from 19 to 26 d and did not change significantly with successive feedings. Development of A. marginale in tick midgut and salivary glands was followed daily during tick feeding (total, 35 d) with light microscopy and DNA hybridization. With microscopy, A. marginale colonies persisted in midgut cells throughout the experiment. Large colonies were observed in gut muscle cells on days 8 through 35 and were the predominant infected cell type during this part of feeding. Colonies were seen in salivary gland acini from day 2 throughout the 35-d experiment. The DNA probe confirmed the presence of Anaplasma DNA in midgut and salivary glands throughout the experiment. Quantitative estimates of infection intensity in tissues of individual ticks approximated 10(7) initial body equivalents, confirming heavy infections. A marginale in midgut tissues decreased with feeding time, whereas the estimated number of organisms in salivary glands remained constant. These data demonstrate that D. andersoni males are efficient vectors of A. marginale and may be potential reservoirs of infection for ruminants for extended periods.

Anaplasma↗
PubMed1992

Attempted transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) (JDI strain) by Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Dermacentor variabilis, and Amblyomma americanum.

Laboratory-reared Ixodes scapularis Say, Amblyomma americanum (L.), and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) were fed on New Zealand white rabbits experimentally infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (JDI strain). At repletion, spirochetes could be detected by dark-field microscopy only in I. scapularis. Acquisition rates were 18 and 21%. When previously exposed nymphs of each species were fed on susceptible rabbits, I. scapularis was the only tick of the three species that transmitted B. burgdorferi. When a single rabbit was experimentally infected with B. burgdorferi and infested at 7-d intervals with I. scapularis, A. americanum, D. variabilis, and a second time with I. scapularis, B. burgdorferi was detected again only in cultures from the two groups of I. scapularis. When molted nymphs from each tick species were allowed to feed on susceptible rabbits, spirochetes again were isolated only at necropsy from the rabbits on which the two groups of I. scapularis fed.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Cotton rats and other small mammals as hosts for immature Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) in central Oklahoma.

Eight species of small mammals were evaluated as potential hosts for American dog ticks, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), in an upland, tallgrass prairie study site in central Oklahoma. Only hispid cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus, and deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, were found to be important hosts for immature D. variabilis. Although D. varibilis larvae and nymphs frequently infested both cotton rats and deer mice, cotton rats were the most important host species for both immature stages in the study area. Cotton rats constituted 63.2% of the total 530 small mammals captured and were hosts to 85.2% of all larvae and 88.7% of all nymphs. Deer mice accounted for 19.8% of all small mammals captured and were hosts for 14.5% of the larvae and 10.8% of the nymphs recovered. The remaining small mammal species were hosts for less than 1% of the immature ticks collected. Larval infestations peaked during summer, whereas summer and spring peaks were noted for the nymphal infestations. The relative importance of cotton rats and deer mice as hosts for immature ticks could be largely, but not completely, explained by cotton rats being more than three times as abundant as deer mice. Attachment site data indicated that differences in grooming behavior also might be partially responsible for the larger infestations observed on cotton rats. Other possible ecological and behavioral explanations of the heavy infestations observed on cotton rats are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Ultrastructure of spotted fever rickettsialike microorganisms observed in tissues of Dermacentor taiwanensis (Acari: Ixodidae).

Tissues of midguts, Malpighian tubules, salivary glands, and ovaries of female Dermacentor taiwanensis Sugimoto collected in an area endemic for Japanese spotted fever were examined with an electron microscope, and the presence of two kinds of rickettsialike microorganisms was confirmed in Japan. Based on ultrastructural findings, a rod-shaped organism detected in all the tissues is a Rickettsia; another, irregularly shaped organism that was found only in the ovary, is a Wolbachia. A hemolymph test using a specific immunostain indicated that the Rickettsia belongs to the spotted fever group of rickettsiae.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Extension of the range of Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Pennsylvania.

The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), until recently was recorded only from the southeastern and southwestern counties of Pennsylvania. Since 1968, this species has expanded its range and is reported from 63 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. This range extension is a matter of concern to the medical community and to physicians throughout Pennsylvania, particularly those with practices in areas where this tick was previously unknown and who may not be familiar with the symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Vector competence of Ixodes pacificus and Dermacentor occidentalis (Acari: Ixodidae) for various isolates of Lyme disease spirochetes.

The vector competence of the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls, and the Pacific Coast tick, Dermacentor occidentalis Marx, for the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner) was compared. Rabbits, hamsters, and the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner), were injected with cultured spirochetes or infected tick-suspensions, or were fed upon by spirochete-infected ticks. Five of seven isolates used as inocula were reisolated from vertebrates with the ear-punch biopsy technique. Three isolates (CA4, 5, 7) that were infectious for both vertebrates and ticks possessed prominent low-molecular-weight protein bands that had relative mobilities of approximately 24-26 kd. The ability of ticks to acquire and maintain various inocula of B. burgdorferi was evaluated by feeding uninfected larvae xenodiagnostically on all three hosts 0-63 d postinjection. Low percentages (0-10.6%) of the I. pacificus and none of the D. occidentalis became infected. By contrast, 33% of I. pacificus and 40% of Ixodes scapularis Say (= I. dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin) that fed on hamsters infected by tick-bite acquired and transstadially passed spirochetes; 10% of D. occidentalis fed on infected hamsters similarly acquired but did not maintain spirochetes. Ixodes pacificus nymphs efficiently transmitted B. burgdorferi to deer mice and a hamster. Feeding by one spirochete-infected nymph was sufficient to produce patent infections in each of five mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Marking Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) with rubidium.

Studies were conducted to determine the feasibility of marking Dermacentor variabilis (Say) with the alkali metal rubidium (Rb) by feeding larvae on mice that were injected with rubidium chloride (RbCl). Newly molted nymphs that fed as larvae for 2 to 5 d on RbCl-injected mice contained approximately 660 parts per billion (ppb) of Rb, whereas nymphs that had fed for 6 to 10 d as larvae on RbCl-injected mice contained 419 ppb of Rb. Nymphs that fed as larvae on control mice contained approximately 9 ppb. There was no host-specific difference in Rb concentration among nymphs obtained from four RbCl-injected mice. Rb-marked nymphs did not show reduced survival as compared with unmarked nymphs when survival was monitored for 8 wk. Rb concentrations in unfed nymphs remained close to 600 ppb for 3 wk, then declined to approximately 380 ppb for 5 wk. Rb concentrations in experimental nymphs remained significantly higher than in control nymphs for 8 wk. Adults that molted from Rb-marked nymphs that had fed on control mice did not contain elevated levels of Rb. This marking method has considerable potential for aiding in population ecology studies of ticks under natural conditions because ticks can be marked via their hosts and the mark will be retained for the duration of the life stage without passing the mark to subsequent stages.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Reduced longevity of Dermacentor variabilis and Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) molting from immatures fed on Rattus norvegicus.

Nymphal and adult Dermacentor variabilis (Say) molting from larvae and nymphs, respectively, that fed on a Holtzman strain of Rattus norvegicus demonstrated reduced longevity compared with those from immature stages that fed on albino laboratory mice, Mus musculus. The decrease in survivorship did not appear to be caused by host-acquired resistance; lower feeding weights, longer feeding times, and reduced molting were not observed. In addition, reduced survivorship was not limited to ticks fed on Holtzman rats. It was also demonstrated in adult D. variabilis molting from nymphs that fed on Wistar strain rats, but the effect was not as severe as with Holtzman rats. Moreover, reduced survivorship occurred in Ixodes scapularis Say that fed on rats, but, again, the effect as less severe than on D. variabilis. Nymphal feeding on mice appeared to counteract the negative effect of larval feeding on rats in both adult D. variabilis and I. scapularis.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Diel activity of nymphal Dermacentor occidentalis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) in relation to meteorological factors and host activity periods.

Relation of diel activity and questing behavior of nymphal Dermacentor occidentalis Marx and Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls to meteorological factors was investigated in a shaded versus a sun-exposed outdoor arena. Oak-woodland soil covered partially with leaf litter and small rocks, and 24 vertically oriented grass stems 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 cm tall were provided as substrate and potential questing sites. Tick activity and weather conditions were monitored bihourly during 15 diel (24-h) experiments (D. occidentalis, 8; I. pacificus, 7). In shade, D. occidentalis was active throughout the day, but questing occurred mainly at night and in the morning on grass stems or atop soil when temperatures were cool and relative humidities high. Ticks seemed to prefer to quest at heights between approximately 4 and 10 cm. The time of day and height at which D. occidentalis quested on grass stems coincided with the activity periods and size of its lagomorph and rodent hosts. Low percentages (< or = 15%) of I. pacificus nymphs (n = 100 or 200) were active atop soil or leaf litter at night or sporadically throughout the day, but none ascended grass stems. This finding was reconfirmed by monitoring diurnal behavior of nymphs in an outdoor aquarium having leaf litter as substrate; < or = 4% of 53 ticks were detected on the topmost layer of leaves and, of those, most I. pacificus were situated on the lower versus the upper surfaces of such leaves. Activity of I. pacificus was correlated positively with relative humidity and negatively with soil temperature in one experiment. In the sun-exposed arena, ticks of both species died within 9-11 d as daytime soil-surface temperatures sometimes reached maximums of 73-77 degrees C and relative humidities dropped to 14-24%. In contrast, D. occidentalis and I. pacificus survived for up to 6 and 8 wk, respectively, in the shaded arena. After its introduction into the shaded arena, the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis Baird & Girard) acquired more I. pacificus nocturnally while asleep in soil than during its diurnal period of activity above ground. Sleeping wild lizards also became infested more often and had significantly greater burdens of I. pacificus subadults, primarily larvae, than diurnally active lizards. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that I. pacificus subadults are capable of locating and attaching to their saurian hosts subterraneanly as well as above ground.

Animals↗