Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Department of Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, College of Science, Blacksburg, VA 24601, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2022 Jul 13;59(4):1443-1450. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjac067.
Over the past decade, Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick, has undergone a geographic range expansion in the United States, from its historical range in east Asia. This tick has been characterized by its frequent parasitism of livestock, an ability to reproduce through parthenogenesis, and its ability to transmit a variety of vector-borne pathogens to livestock, wildlife, and human hosts in its native geographic range. Thus far in the United States, 17 states have reported H. longicornis populations, including 38 counties in Virginia. These numbers come from presence-absence reports provided to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but little has been reported about this ticks' seasonality in Virginia or its habitat preferences. Our current study detected H. longicornis populations in seven of the nine surveyed counties in Virginia. Haemaphysalis longicornis were observed in multiple habitat types including mixed hardwood forests and pastures, with abundant H. longicornis populations detected at one particular pasture site in Wythe County. This study also attempted to investigate environmental conditions that may be of importance in predicting tick presence likelihood. While sample size limited the scope of these efforts, habitat type and climatic metrics were found to be important indicators of H. longicornis collection success and abundance for both the nymphal and larval life stages. This current study reports useful surveillance data for monitoring these tick populations as they become established in the western half of Virginia and provides insight into their current distribution and maintenance over a large study region.
在过去的十年中，角血蜱（Haemaphysalis longicornis），即亚洲长角血蜱，已经从其历史分布范围东亚扩展到了美国。这种蜱虫以经常寄生家畜、通过孤雌生殖进行繁殖以及在其原生地理范围内传播多种媒介传播病原体的能力为特征，这些病原体可以传播给家畜、野生动物和人类宿主。迄今为止，美国已有 17 个州报告了角血蜱种群，包括弗吉尼亚州的 38 个县。这些数字来自美国农业部提供的存在与否报告，但关于这种蜱虫在弗吉尼亚州的季节性或其栖息地偏好，报告很少。我们目前的研究在弗吉尼亚州的九个调查县中的七个县中检测到了角血蜱种群。在包括混合硬木林和牧场在内的多种生境类型中观察到了角血蜱，在怀斯县的一个特定牧场中发现了大量的角血蜱。本研究还试图调查可能对预测蜱虫存在可能性很重要的环境条件。虽然样本量限制了这些努力的范围，但生境类型和气候指标被发现是角血蜱幼虫和若虫收集成功率和丰度的重要指标。本研究报告了有用的监测数据，用于监测这些蜱虫种群在弗吉尼亚州西部的建立情况，并深入了解了它们在大型研究区域内的当前分布和维持情况。
