Moisture requirements for activity/survival of the gulf coast tick,<i>Amblyomma maculatum</i>Koch (Acari: Ixodidae), based on a water balance study of all life cycle stages

Yoder, Jay A.; Christensen, Brady S.; Croxall, Travis J.; Schumaker, Laura K.; Tank, Justin L.

doi:10.1080/01647950808684544

Cited by 23 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Vegetation was found to generate microenvironmental conditions that prevent the temperature from falling below 0 • C, even during the intensely cold winter periods of the forested environments where these ticks are regularly found. Furthermore, it has been shown that Ixodes members are particularly sensitive to high temperatures (~30 • C) and water loss [80], with higher temperatures associated with increased mortality, reduced oviposition success, and host-seeking activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, climate constraints seem not to be a limiting factor for Dermacentor spp. Dispersal because they have an efficient water balance, which enables them to colonize new environments [80,85]. This resistance to desiccation combined with the association of adult Dermacentor ticks with wide distributed hosts [26] could explain the board distribution in Mexico (Figure 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological Niche Models of Four Hard Tick Genera (Ixodidae) in Mexico

Emilio

Moreno-Arzate

López‐González

2020

Animals

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Simple Summary: Vector-borne diseases currently represent a significant threat to public health, mainly due to the changes that humans are producing in ecosystems and climates. Analyzing the environmental conditions that allow the establishment and survival of ticks could help determine possible sites for the appearance of infectious outbreaks. In this study, nine ecological niche models were generated from different algorithms to determine the current potential distribution of four tick genera in Mexico. Temperature and moisture have been considered as the main factors limiting tick distribution. However, the analysis of the ecological niche models determined that the four genera exhibited different distribution patterns, which may be associated with their physiological and ecological differences. This type of analysis can improve our understanding of the dynamics of ticks and, therefore, can be very useful in monitoring programs of the diseases they transmit.Abstract: Ticks are vectors of a large number of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance, and in recent years, they have participated in the rise of multiple infectious outbreaks around the world. Studies have proposed that temperature and precipitation are the main variables that limit the geographical distribution of ticks. The analysis of environmental constraints with ecological niche modeling (ENM) techniques can improve our ability to identify suitable areas for emergence events. Algorithms used in this study showed different distributional patterns for each tick genera; the environmental suitability for Amblyomma includes warm and humid localities below 1000 m above the sea level, while Ixodes is mainly associated with ecosystems with high vegetation cover. Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus genus presented wider distribution patterns; the first includes species that are well adapted to resist desiccation, whereas the latter includes generalist species that are mostly associated with domestic hosts in Mexico. Ecological niche models have proven to be useful in estimating the geographic distribution of many taxa of ticks. Despite our limited knowledge of tick's diversity, ENM can improve our understanding of the dynamics of vector-borne diseases and can assist public health decision-making processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Niche Models of Four Hard Tick Genera (Ixodidae) in Mexico

Emilio

Moreno-Arzate

López‐González

2020

Animals

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Climatic stress decreases tick survival but increases rate of host‐seeking behavior

et al. 2023

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Ticks are vectors of many diseases and are expanding in geographic distribution. However, how ticks will fare in their new environments, where they may experience stressful climatic conditions at the expansion front, remains unclear. Since there is a trade-off in ticks between behaviors that promote longevity and behaviors that promote reproduction, we hypothesized that extreme climatic stress reduces the survivorship of ticks but increases the frequency of tick host-seeking behavior, or questing. Here, we used a novel method to simulate climatic stress on individual ticks of three species-Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis, and Ixodes scapularis-to evaluate their survival, physiology, and questing behavior. The first experiment involved placing 144 adult ticks of each species in two temperature ranges (15-25 C and 25-35 C) and three relative humidity (RH) treatments (32%, 58%, and 84% RH).We assessed the ticks daily for survivorship and questing, and we measured water loss by comparing the mass of each tick when it died to when it was fully hydrated. In this first experiment, ticks in warmer and less humid conditions generally died faster than those in cooler and more humid conditions. Ticks of all three species were more likely to quest shortly before their death and consistently died after losing approximately 50%-56% of their total body water content, but Ixodes reached that threshold much faster than the other two species.The second experiment involved placing 18 ticks of each species at 35 C and 32% RH. We assessed the ticks every 3 h for survivorship, questing, and water loss. Ticks again were more likely to quest shortly before their death. With frequent checks, we were able to measure the dehydration tolerance more accurately and the rate of water loss. Ticks of all three species consistently died after losing approximately 51% of their total body water content. However, Ixodes lost water approximately 5 times faster than Amblyomma and 11 times faster than Dermacentor. These results demonstrate that severe climatic stress tilts the trade-off toward higher questing rates but not higher overall questing time because of reduced survival rates.

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