BIOEPAR, INRA, Oniris, 44307, Nantes, France.
BIOEPAR, INRA, Oniris, 44307, Nantes, France.
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019 Apr;10(3):505-512. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.12.009. Epub 2018 Dec 28.
Tick-borne diseases have a complex epidemiology that depends on different ecological communities, associating several species of vertebrate hosts, vectors and pathogens. While most studies in Europe are focused on Ixodes ricinus, the common sheep tick, other Ixodes species may also be involved in the transmission or maintenance of different pathogens. In this study, we describe for the first time the activity pattern of I. frontalis, an understudied but widespread tick species associated with several common bird species in Europe. Questing ixodid tick stages (larvae, nymphs and adults) of both I. frontalis and I. ricinus were monitored by the drag sampling method over three years at the same locations in Western France. Differential activities were observed depending on I. frontalis life stages: nymphs and adults were present sporadically on the ground throughout the year, while larvae exhibited a marked peak of activity around October-November with tens or even hundreds of individuals per m, followed by a slow decrease in winter. Larvae were completely absent in summer, which contrasts with the high numbers of I. ricinus larvae at this time of the year. The vegetation and the litter where the two tick species were found also exhibited marked differences, with I. frontalis mostly collected under bamboo bushes.
蜱传疾病具有复杂的流行病学特征，取决于不同的生态群落，涉及多种脊椎动物宿主、媒介和病原体。虽然欧洲的大多数研究都集中在普通羊蜱（Ixodes ricinus）上，但其他的硬蜱属物种也可能参与不同病原体的传播或维持。在这项研究中，我们首次描述了分布广泛但研究较少的扇头蜱（Ixodes frontalis）的活动模式，该蜱种与欧洲的几种常见鸟类有关。在法国西部的同一地点，通过拖曳采样法，三年来监测到了 I. frontalis 和 I. ricinus 的游离生活阶段（幼虫、若虫和成虫）。根据 I. frontalis 的不同生活阶段，观察到了不同的活动：若虫和成虫全年都零星地出现在地面上，而幼虫则在 10 月至 11 月期间表现出明显的活动高峰，每平方米有数十甚至数百只幼虫，然后在冬季缓慢减少。幼虫在夏季完全不存在，这与每年这个时候大量的 I. ricinus 幼虫形成鲜明对比。这两种蜱种被发现的植被和落叶层也有明显的差异，I. frontalis 主要在竹丛下采集。
