Old Dominion University, Department of Biological Sciences, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.
Old Dominion University, Department of Biological Sciences, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019 Jan;10(1):18-22. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.08.013. Epub 2018 Aug 28.
The hard (ixodid) ticks Amblyomma americanum and Amblyomma maculatum are found throughout the southeastern United States. To study the effects of water inundation, which is an increasingly common phenomenon in many coastal areas, unfed adult A. americanum and A. maculatum ticks were tested for survival by submergence in three water conditions: freshwater, brackish water, and saltwater. The results demonstrated a significant difference in survival between the two species in all three water conditions, with A. maculatum ticks surviving a shorter time underwater than A. americanum ticks. There is also a significant difference in A. americanum survival among the different water conditions, with the highest mortality in saltwater and the lowest in freshwater. Amblyomma americanum ticks survived the longest in freshwater (70 d), followed by brackish water (64 d), and the shortest survival was in saltwater (46 d), while the longest any A. maculatum tick survived was 24 d in freshwater. These findings demonstrate that any short-term flooding events, e.g., less than a week, would not likely eliminate these species of ticks in the flooded area.
硬蜱属（Ixodid）的美洲钝缘蜱和蓖子硬蜱分布于美国东南部。为了研究水淹没的影响，这是许多沿海地区越来越常见的现象，未进食的成年美洲钝缘蜱和蓖子硬蜱在三种水条件下进行了浸水生存测试：淡水、半咸水和盐水。结果表明，在所有三种水条件下，两种物种的存活率存在显著差异，蓖子硬蜱在水下存活的时间比美洲钝缘蜱短。在不同的水条件下，美洲钝缘蜱的存活率也存在显著差异，盐水中的死亡率最高，淡水中的死亡率最低。美洲钝缘蜱在淡水中存活时间最长（70 天），其次是半咸水（64 天），在盐水中存活时间最短（46 天），而蓖子硬蜱在淡水中存活时间最长为 24 天。这些发现表明，任何短期洪水事件，例如不到一周，都不太可能在洪水泛滥地区消灭这些种类的蜱虫。
