U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Field Station at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA.
Center for Wildlife Health, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Knoxville, TN, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2022 Jan 12;59(1):267-272. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjab181.
Questing behavior and host associations of immature blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, from the southeastern United States are known to differ from those in the north. To elucidate these relationships we describe host associations of larval and nymphal I. scapularis from 8 lizard species sampled from 5 sites in the southeastern U.S. Larvae and nymphs attached in greater numbers to larger lizards than to smaller lizards, with differential levels of attachment to different lizard species. Blacklegged ticks are generally attached to skinks of the genus Plestiodon in greater numbers per unit lizard weight than to anoles (Anolis) or fence lizards (Sceloporus). The broad-headed skink, Plestiodon laticeps (Schneider), was a particularly important host for immature I. scapularis in our study and in several previous studies of tick-host associations in the southeast. Blacklegged ticks show selective attachment to Plestiodon lizard hosts in the southeast, but whether this results from behavioral host preferences or from ecological factors such as timing or microhabitat distributions of tick questing and host activity remains to be determined.
美国东南部未成熟的黑腿蜱（Ixodes scapularis Say）的求偶行为和宿主关联已知与北方的不同。为了阐明这些关系，我们描述了从美国东南部的 5 个地点的 8 种蜥蜴物种中采集的幼虫和若虫的宿主关联。幼虫和若虫附着在较大的蜥蜴上的数量多于较小的蜥蜴，对不同蜥蜴物种的附着程度也不同。黑腿蜱通常附着在蜥蜴属（Plestiodon）的石龙子上的数量多于附着在安乐蜥（Anolis）或壁蜥（Sceloporus）上的数量。宽头石龙子（Plestiodon laticeps（Schneider））是我们研究以及东南部之前的几项关于蜱宿主关联研究中未成熟的黑腿蜱的一个特别重要的宿主。黑腿蜱对东南部的 Plestiodon 蜥蜴宿主表现出选择性附着，但这是由于行为上的宿主偏好还是由于蜱求偶和宿主活动的时间或微生境分布等生态因素，仍有待确定。
