Boxler B, Odermatt P, Haag-Wackernagel D
Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
Med Vet Entomol. 2016 Jun;30(2):193-9. doi: 10.1111/mve.12165. Epub 2016 Mar 9.
The medically and veterinary important feral pigeon tick Argas reflexus (Ixodida: Argasidae) Fabricius usually feeds on pigeons, but if its natural hosts are not available, it also enters dwellings to bite humans that can possibly react with severe allergic reactions. Argas reflexus is ecologically extremely successful as a result of some outstanding morphological, physiological, and ethological features. Yet, it is still unknown how the pigeon tick finds its hosts. Here, different host stimuli such as living nestlings as well as begging calls, body heat, smell, host breath and tick faeces, were tested under controlled laboratory conditions. Of all stimuli tested, only heat played a role in host-finding. The heat stimulus was then tested under natural conditions within a pigeon loft. The results showed that A. reflexus is able to find a host over short distances of only a few centimetres. Furthermore, it finds its host by random movements and recognizes a host only right before direct contact is made. The findings are useful for the control of A. reflexus in infested apartments, both to diagnose an infestation and to perform a success monitoring after disinfestation.
在医学和兽医学上具有重要意义的野生家鸽蜱——波斯锐缘蜱（Ixodida: Argasidae），Fabricius，通常以鸽子为食，但如果其天然宿主不可得，它也会进入住所叮咬人类，人类可能会产生严重的过敏反应。由于一些突出的形态、生理和行为学特征，波斯锐缘蜱在生态上极其成功。然而，家鸽蜱如何找到其宿主仍然未知。在这里，在可控的实验室条件下测试了不同的宿主刺激因素，如活的雏鸟以及乞食叫声、体温、气味、宿主呼吸和蜱的粪便。在所有测试的刺激因素中，只有体温在宿主寻找中起作用。然后在鸽舍的自然条件下测试热刺激。结果表明，波斯锐缘蜱能够在仅几厘米的短距离内找到宿主。此外，它通过随机移动找到宿主，并且仅在直接接触前才识别宿主。这些发现对于控制受感染公寓中的波斯锐缘蜱很有用，既有助于诊断感染情况，也有助于在灭虫后进行成功监测。
