Ixodes ricinus (Ixodidae), an occasional phoront on necrophagous and coprophagous beetles in Europe

For ticks, phoretic behaviour using insects associated with vertebrates might offer an alternative strategy to host-seeking. Here we report for the first time the presence of immature stages of the most widespread tick species in Western Europe, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae), on three beetle spec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental & applied acarology 2015-02, Vol.65 (2), p.243-248
Main Authors: Saloña-Bordas, Marta I, Bahillo de la Puebla, Pablo, Díaz Martín, Beatriz, Sumner, Jason, Perotti, M. Alejandra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acari
Animal Ecology
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cervus elaphus
Coleoptera
Coleoptera - parasitology
Dung
Entomology
feces
Fieldwork
Geotrupidae
host seeking
Host-Parasite Interactions
immatures
insect surveys
Insects
Ixodes - growth & development
Ixodes - physiology
Ixodes ricinus
Ixodidae
Life Sciences
Nicrophorus
Nicrophorus vespilloides
Nymph - growth & development
Nymph - physiology
nymphs
parks
pig carcasses
Silphidae
ticks
United Kingdom
vertebrates
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Summary:For ticks, phoretic behaviour using insects associated with vertebrates might offer an alternative strategy to host-seeking. Here we report for the first time the presence of immature stages of the most widespread tick species in Western Europe, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae), on three beetle species belonging to families Silphidae and Geotrupidae (Coleoptera). Specimens were collected while performing fieldwork surveys on insect diversity during the peak of tick’s questing behaviour, in July and August of 2009 and 2010. The collections took place in two Natural Parks, the Aiako Harria, Guipúzcoa in Northern Spain and Wellington Country Park, Berkshire, in England. The silphid beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides and the geotrupid Trypocopris pyrenaeus were collected from pig-carcasses and both carried nymphs of I. ricinus; the geotrupid Anoplotrupes stercorosus was carrying a tick larva while feeding on red deer dung. These findings revealed an unnoticed but common relation of ticks not only with decomposed animals but also with insect scavengers. We discuss the rationale of this phenomenon.
ISSN:0168-8162
1572-9702
DOI:10.1007/s10493-014-9867-y