ABSTRACT:We determined the antibody prevalence

Abstract. The first data are presented on larvae, oviposition, and mating behaviour in the Eleticinae, the most primitive subfamily of Meloidae. Taxa studied include two African species of Electica. Larval descriptions of E.rubripennis and E.wahlbergi are presented, as well as observations of oviposition in E.rubripennis and of courtship leading to copulation in E.wahlbergi. The placement of eggs under bark and the absence of a triungulin larva in both species are unique for the family. They represent plesiotypic traits found in other groups of Tenebrionoidea.

The pattern of infestations of Ixodes dammini on white-tailed deer in Ogle County in Illinois was studied through examinations of hunted deer from 1988 to 1990. The Illinois Geographic Information System mapped the spatial distribution of tick infestations on deer and related it to a known endemic focus for I. dammini and Borrelia burgdorferi (Castle Rock State Park), and to a major waterway (Rock River). Second-order neighborhood analysis was used to analyze the spatial distribution of deer around Castle Rock State Park. More than 25% of deer were infested. All deer were clustered around CRSP, but the clustering resulted mostly from clustering of infested deer around CRSP. CRSP is apparently the only important source of tick infestations in Ogle County. Clustering of infested deer did not change during the 3-yr study period. The dispersion pattern of ticks on deer was aggregated, with twice and three times as many ticks collected from bucks as from does and from fawns, respectively. More male ticks than female ticks were collected from infested deer. Of 59 ticks removed from harvested deer in 1990, 5.1% tested positive for B. burgdorferi.

Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin was found for the first time in Illinois in November 1987, when two adult females were collected from two deer in Jo Daviess County in the northwestern corner of the state. In 1988, in a study of six state parks in northern Illinois, questing adults and nymphs were encountered in one park in Ogle County. During the firearm deer hunt in November 1988, adult female and male ticks were found in several counties, with a high rate of infestation (greater than 25%) in two counties (Ogle and Rock Island) along the Rock River, which flows from Wisconsin into the Mississippi River. Several cases in humans with no history of travel outside of the state have been reported, primarily from northern Illinois. We suspect that infiltration of infected ticks and wildlife from Wisconsin is resulting in the emergence of Lyme disease in Illinois. Because all the components necessary for the completion of the tick life cycle and for the transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi are available throughout much of the state, I. dammini and Lyme disease can spread and become established in large portions of Illinois.

In spring 1993, Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected from six regions of Slovenia to determine their overall rate of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and to assess the frequency of individual species in these tick populations. Ticks were dissected and midgut tissue inoculated into modified Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK II) medium. Borrelia isolates were differentiated into separate species using species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers and by large restriction fragment pattern (LRFP) analysis. Infected ticks were found in all six regions surveyed. Spirochaetes were isolated from 69 of 363 ticks (19%): the isolation rate from adult female ticks was 35% (23/66 ticks cultured), from adult male ticks 22% (20/91), and from nymphal ticks 13% (26/206). Determination of the species of 60 isolates revealed that 32 were Borrelia afzelii (53%), 20 were Borrelia garinii (33%), and 8 were Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (13%). In the Ljubljana region Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii predominated (43% and 40%, respectively), whereas Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto constituted only 17% of isolates. In three other regions of the country Borrelia afzelii was isolated exclusively, although the number of isolates investigated was small. This study demonstrates the presence of all three European species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato within the Slovenian tick population and also within a geographic area of less than 100 m2.