Baines D, Taylor L
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Upland Research Group, Durham, U.K.
Med Vet Entomol. 2016 Sep;30(3):360-4. doi: 10.1111/mve.12185. Epub 2016 Jul 5.
In parts of northern England, North Wales and the Scottish Highlands, increasing numbers of sheep ticks Ixodes ricinus (Ixodida: Ixodidae), and the louping ill virus they can carry, are considered to be important factors that reduce red grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica productivity. The present study tested this hypothesis by fitting adult female grouse with leg bands impregnated with the acaricide cypermethrin to experimentally control ticks on their chicks on two managed grouse moors in northeast Scotland. The chicks of females fitted with acaricide leg bands showed reduced tick infestations and improved survival in one of the two study years, relative to chicks of control females. Acaricide leg bands constitute a potential management technique that may be adopted by grouse moor managers in circumstances of high tick infestations on grouse chicks.
在英格兰北部部分地区、北威尔士和苏格兰高地，蓖麻硬蜱（硬蜱科：硬蜱属）数量不断增加，以及它们携带的跳跃病病毒，被认为是导致苏格兰雷鸟生产力下降的重要因素。本研究通过给成年雌性雷鸟佩戴浸有杀虫剂氯氰菊酯的腿环，在苏格兰东北部的两个管理的雷鸟荒野上对其雏鸟身上的蜱虫进行实验控制，来验证这一假设。与对照雌性的雏鸟相比，佩戴杀螨剂腿环的雌性雏鸟在两个研究年份中的一年里，蜱虫感染减少，存活率提高。杀螨剂腿环是一种潜在的管理技术，在雏鸟蜱虫感染率高的情况下，雷鸟荒野管理者可能会采用。
