Comparative off‐host survival of larval Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks (Dermacentor andersoni) collected from ecologically distinct field populations

Dermacentor andersoni (Ixodida: Ixodidae) Stiles, also known as the Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (RMWT), is found throughout the western United States and transmits pathogens of importance to human and animal health. The distributions and activity patterns of RMWTs are shaped by regional climatic variat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical and veterinary entomology 2014-09, Vol.28 (3), p.341-344
Main Authors: OWEN, J. P, VANDER VLIET, A, SCOLES, G. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
abiotic effects
ambient temperature
Anaplasma
animal and human health
Animals
Dermacentor - growth & development
Dermacentor - physiology
Dermacentor andersoni
Ecology
Entomology
Environment
geographical variation
Habitats
Humidity
ixodid tick
Ixodidae
Larva - physiology
larvae
Longevity
Montana
mortality
Oregon
pathogens
relative humidity
stress
Stress, Physiological
Survival Analysis
Temperature
ticks
water stress
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Dermacentor andersoni (Ixodida: Ixodidae) Stiles, also known as the Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (RMWT), is found throughout the western United States and transmits pathogens of importance to human and animal health. The distributions and activity patterns of RMWTs are shaped by regional climatic variation. However, it is unknown if responses to climatic variation differ across the tick's geographical range. The objective of this narrow study was to test the hypothesis that the responses of RMWTs to abiotic conditions [e.g. temperature and RH (relative humidity)] vary among populations. We collected RMWTs from ecologically distinct field sites in the states of Montana and Oregon (USA). In the laboratory, we tracked weekly survival of tick larvae under four combinations of RH (75% and 98%) and temperature (26 and 32 °C) that reflected the range of conditions observed in the source habitats during spring‐summer. For both populations, larval survival time decreased at the higher ambient temperature (50% mortality 1–2 weeks earlier). Differences in RH did not affect the survival time of larvae from Oregon. By contrast, the survival time of larvae from Montana decreased at the lower RH (50% mortality 1 week earlier). These data suggest that the tolerance limits for water stress may differ among populations of D. andersoni.
ISSN:0269-283X
1365-2915
DOI:10.1111/mve.12049