Department of Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Lublin, 11 Radziwiłłowska Street, 20-080 Lublin, Poland.
J Med Entomol. 2012 Jul;49(4):859-64. doi: 10.1603/me11121.
Studies on diurnal activity and factors affecting the questing behavior in Dermacentor reticulatus (F.) adults were conducted in an open-type habitat in eastern Poland (51 degrees 15' N, 22 degrees 36' E). Observations, for 25 min each, were made at 2-h intervals between 1000 and 1800 hours, during the autumn (from late September to mid-October 2000) and spring (from late April to mid-May 2001) activity peaks. The questing behavior of adult D. reticulatus ticks depended on the time of the day and season. The autumn activity was higher than that in spring, yet both these periods were characterized by a rising trend from the morning to early afternoon with a peak at approximately 1400 hours (on average 40 and 30 specimens per one collection, respectively). In spring, the high activity (on average 31.8 specimens/ collection) persisted until late afternoon (1800 hours), while in the autumn period it declined before nightfall (on average 21.4 specimens/collection at 1800 hours). Females predominated over males in both seasonal periods of activity and greater differences in the sex ratio were recorded in the spring. We found a negative correlation between the diurnal activity of the adult ticks and temperature and between the number of active ticks and the length of day both in the autumn and spring. However, no statistically significant correlation was demonstrated between the diurnal activity of adult ticks and humidity. The investigations show that, in addition to environmental factors, tick host-seeking behavior is dependent on the activity of their hosts and biological traits of this species.
在波兰东部的一个开放式栖息地（51 度 15' N，22 度 36' E）中，对成年硬蜱（Dermacentor reticulatus（F.））的昼夜活动和影响其觅食行为的因素进行了研究。在秋季（2000 年 9 月下旬至 10 月中旬）和春季（2001 年 4 月下旬至 5 月中旬）活动高峰期，每 2 小时观察一次，每次 25 分钟。成年硬蜱的觅食行为取决于一天中的时间和季节。秋季活动高于春季，但这两个时期都呈现出从早上到下午早些时候逐渐上升的趋势，下午 2 点左右达到峰值（平均每个采集点分别有 40 和 30 个标本）。在春季，高活动（平均每个采集点 31.8 个标本）一直持续到下午晚些时候（18 点），而在秋季，活动在天黑前下降（18 点时平均每个采集点 21.4 个标本）。在两个活动季节中，雌性均多于雄性，而在春季，性别比例的差异更大。我们发现，成年蜱的昼夜活动与温度呈负相关，与活跃蜱的数量与白天长度之间也呈负相关，在秋季和春季均如此。然而，我们没有发现成年蜱的昼夜活动与湿度之间存在统计学上显著的相关性。这些研究表明，除了环境因素外，蜱的宿主寻食行为还取决于其宿主的活动和该物种的生物学特征。
