Search

We report 28 species of ticks (Acari: Ixodida) from Colorado (CO). We include the soft ticks (Argasidae) Argas(Argas) cooleyiKohls and Hoogstraal, Argas(Persicargas) radiatusRailliet, Carios(Alectorobius) concanensis(Cooley and Kohls), Carios(Alectorobius) kelleyi(Cooley and Kohls), Ornithodoros(Pavlovskyella) hermsiWheeler et al., Ornithodoros(Pavlovskyella) parkeriCooley, Ornithodoros(Pavlovskyella) turicata(Dugès), Otobius(Otobius) lagophilusCooley and Kohls, and Otobius(Otobius) megnini(Dugès). We include the metastriate hard ticks (Ixodidae) Dermacentor(Americentor) albipictus(Packard), Dermacentor(Dermacentor) andersoniStiles, Dermacentor(Dermacentor) parumapertusNeumann, Dermacentor(Dermacentor) variabilis(Say), Haemaphysalis(Aboimisalis) chordeilis(Packard), Haemaphysalis(Gonixodes) leporispalustris(Packard), and Rhipicephalus(Rhipicephalus) sanguineusLatreille. Prostriate hard ticks include Ixodes(Ixodiopsis) angustusNeumann, Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) baergiCooley and Kohls, Ixodes(Trichotoixodes) brunneusKoch, Ixodes(Scaphixodes) howelliCooley and Kohls, Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) kingiBishopp, Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) marmotaeCooley and Kohls, Ixodes(Ixodiopsis) ochotonaeGregson, Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) sculptusNeumann, Ixodes(Ixodiopsis) soricisGregson, Ixodes(Ixodes) spinipalpisHadwen and Nuttall, Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) texanusBanks, and Ixodes(Ixodiopsis) woodiBishopp. Argas radiatusand Ixodes brunneusrepresent new state records. Review of collection reports revealed that inclusion of Ixodes(Multidentatus) auritulus(Neumann), Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) cookeiPackard, Ixodes(Phoeloioxdes) marxiBanks, and Ixodes(Ixodes) pacificusCooley and Kohls is dubious or unconfirmed and, conversely, that C. concanensisand H. chordeilishave distributions that include CO. We list an additional five species occasionally detected and 13 exotic species intercepted in CO. Tick-host associations, geographical distributions, and medical/veterinary importance are included.

ABSTRACTTwo previously reported PCR methods were evaluated to determine whether they are as sensitive and specific as conventional culture methods in detecting Salmonellaspp. from feces. Bovine and equine feces were enriched overnight in brain heart infusion broth and assayed using PCR methods and primer sets described by other investigators. A total of 774 fecal specimens were tested using a primer set (invE-Aprimer set) that amplifies a region spanning the invasin E and A genes of Salmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium. A subset of these fecal specimens (306 of the 774 total) were tested using primers (hisJprimer set) that amplify a portion of the histidine transport J gene. The PCR required 24 h to obtain results, whereas it took 5 to 7 days to identify Salmonellaspp. by culture. PCR detection of Salmonellaspp. using the hisJprimers and the invE-Aprimers had a sensitivity of 93.3 and 80%, respectively, and a specificity of 85.6 and 98.6%, respectively, compared with bacterial culture. Amplification of 42 culture-negative fecal specimens (of 306 total specimens) generated a DNA fragment that corresponded to the molecular weight of the amplified hisJgene. The hisJ-generated amplicons from six culture-negative and six culture-positive specimens were sequenced and analyzed using DNA sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis software. A neighbor-joining dendrogram of the DNA sequences of both sets of hisJamplicons revealed two distinct groups—one group of amplicons from culture-positive specimens identical to the hisJgene of S. entericaserovar Typhimurium and a second group of amplicons from culture-negative specimens that were more closely related to hisJof S. entericaserovar Typhimurium than to other hisJsequences present in nucleotide databases.

Seabird soft ticks, Carios capensis (Ixodida: Argasidae), originally collected from coastal Georgia, USA, were allowed to ingest a blood meal from pekin ducklings (Anas domesticus) infected with WNV. After 35 days of extrinsic incubation, the ticks transmitted virus to naive ducklings. WNV was detected via plaque assay and RTPCR in ticks and in tissues and serum of ducklings 7 days post infestation. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis. 5, 293–295.

Phoretic deutonymphs (hypopi) of Schwiebea sp. mites were detected during examinations of questing adult and nymphal blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, from vegetation at two woodland sites in northeastern Wisconsin, USA, during May and June, 2014. Collection sites were in Marinette and Oconto Counties, respectively. These hypopi are evidently the first reported from ticks in the Western Hemisphere, and they seem to be most similar morphologically to the putatively Holarctic species Schwiebea nova (Oudemans).

Soft ticks are medically important ectoparasites of birds and mammals that are found throughout the world. This report describes isolation and partial characterization of two embryonic cell lines, CCE2 and CCE3, from the seabird soft tick Carios capensis (Neumann). Sequencing of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and karyology confirmed the lines were derived from C. capensis. CCE3 cells were diploid with a modal chromosome number of 20. The population doubling time for cell lines CCE2 and 3 in passage 40 was 6–9 d. A rickettsial endosymbiont, RCCE3, was co-isolated along with line CCE3. Nucleotide sequences of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products generated using primers specific for rickettsial 17-kDa antigen, outer membrane protein (omp) A, ompB, and citrate synthase genes along with phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that RCCE3 is a previously uncultured endosymbiont. The rickettsia was identified as a symbiont of C. capensis, closely related to rickettsiae previously detected by PCR in C. capensis, Ornithodoros moubata (Murray) and Hemaphysalis sulcata Canestrini & Fanzago, a hard tick. RCCE3 caused a cytopathic effect in C. capensis host cells, and it was transferred to Ixodes scapularis Say cell line ISE6 for maintenance. The rickettsial endosymbiont was eliminated from CCE3 by treatment with oxytetracycline. Cell lines from C. capensis will be useful to researchers investigating interactions between soft ticks and microorganisms, soft tick physiology, and molecular biology. The rickettsia adds to the growing number of Rickettsia species that have been isolated in tick cell culture, and it is available for characterization.

Results of a survey for ixodid ticks and/or serum antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi from 14 species of small to large mammals from eastern coastal areas of the United States are presented. Most samples were obtained from July 1987 through June 1989 (excluding December–March) at 3 locales: Assateague Is. National Seashore, Worcester Co., MD., and Accomack Co., VA. (≈38° 05' N 75° 10' W), and Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Dare Co., NC (≈35° 30' N 76° 35' W). Hosts sampled included opossums (Didelphis virginiana), least shrews (Cryptotis parva), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), raccoons (Procyon lotor), feral cats (Felis sylvestris), feral horses (Equus caballus), sika deer (Cervus nippon), rice rats (Oryzomys palustris), white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), house mice (Mus musculus), norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) and jumping mice (Zapus hudsonius). An indirect fluorescent antibody test was used for testing sera from opossums, raccoons, and feral cats; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used for sera from foxes, horses, deer, and house and white-footed mice. Antibodies to B. burgdorferi were found in all species tested from each locale. Seasonal data reinforce the contention that P. leucopus is a suitable sentinel species for B. burgdorferi. Ticks on hosts included Ixodes scapularis Say, I. texanus Banks, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), D. albipictus (Packard), and Amblyomma americanum (L.). Males comprised ≈0–22 and 60–81% of Ixodes sp. and Amblyomma-Dermacentor adults collected from hosts, respectively. All stages of A. americanum, adult D. variabilis, and larval I. scapularis were collected from vegetation. The highest seropositivity rate (67%) was recorded for 45 P. leucopus at Assateague during July, ≈1 mo. after peak nymphal I. scapularis intensity. Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from 6 nymphal and 12 female I. scapularis collected from P. leucopus and C. nippon, respectively, on Assateague.

Reciprocal crosses between Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin from Massachusetts and Ixodes scapularis Say from Georgia produced offspring through the F3 generation when the experiment was discontinued. Reciprocal I. dammini × Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls (California) and I. scapularis × I. pacificus crosses produced F1 progeny; however, all progeny were sterile. Assortative mating experiments between I. dammini and I. scapularis indicated that males and females of both species mated with the opposite sex of heterospecific or conspecific ticks when there was a choice. Conventional discriminant analysis of morphometric measurements of ticks from Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, and two populations of F1 hybrids indicated that there were recognizable differences. However, size-free (sheared) discriminant analysis indicated that these differences were largely size-dependent, with much overlap of the four eastern and two hybrid populations but no overlap with I. pacificus from California. Analysis of chromosomes (morphology and C band) indicated no differences between the Georgia and Massachusetts populations but showed a difference between them and the California population of I. pacificus. Analysis of isozymes showed that the genetic identity value for the Georgia and Massachusetts populations was within the normal range for conspecific populations, whereas the California population indicated congeneric but not conspecific relatedness to the Georgia and Massachusetts populations. Life cycle data collected under similar laboratory conditions showed no differences in length of feeding and molting periods among Georgia, Massachusetts, and California populations. These data and results of the work of other authors on tick host preferences and vector competence indicate that I. dammini is not a valid species separate from I. scapularis. Because the name Ixodes scapularis Say, 1821, has priority over the name Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin, 1979, I. dammini is relegated to a junior subjective synonym of I. scapularis (based on Article 23 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature).

Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) capensis Neumann, an ectoparasite of seabirds found circumglobally in the tropics and subtropics, has become established along the southeastern seacoast of the United States. The tick has been found feeding primarily on brown pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis, but also has been found on the laughing gull, Larus atricilla, and the American oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus. We report here the presence of O. (A.) capensis from New Hanover and Brunswick counties (near the mouth of the Cape Fear River) in North Carolina, to the Charleston Harbor area of South Carolina and thence south to Cumberland Island (a barrier island) in Camden County, Georgia, just north of the Florida state line.

The blacklegged tick, Ixodes (Ixodes) scapularis Say, 1821, is redescribed, based on laboratory reared specimens originating in Bulloch County, Georgia. Information on distribution, host associations, morphological variation, and medical/veterinary importance is also presented. A great deal of recent work has focused on this species because it is the prinicipal vector of the agent of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmidt, Hyde, Steigerwaldt & Brenner) in eastern North America. Its distribution appears to be expanding, and includes the state of Florida in the southeastern United States north to the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada, west to North and South Dakota, United States, and south to the state of Coahuila, Mexico. Although I. scapularis feeds on at least 125 species of North American vertebrates (54 mammalian, 57 avian, and 14 lizard species), analysis of the U.S. National Tick Collection holdings show that white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann), cattle, Bos taurus L., dogs, Canis lupus L., and other medium-to-large sized mammals are important hosts for adults as are native mice and other small mammals, certain ground-frequenting birds, skinks, and glass lizards for nymphs and larvae. This tick is a polytypic species exhibiting north-south and east-west morphological clines. Analysis of variance and Student-Newman-Keuls multiple comparisons revealed significant interpopulational variation that is expressed most significantly in the nymphal stage. Nymphs from northern (Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland) populations had relatively larger basis capituli with shorter cornua (except Maryland) than southern (North Carolina, Georgia) populations. Midwestern populations (Minnesota, Missouri) differed from eastern populations (Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia) in idiosomal characters (broader scuta, larger coxae III, and IV). In addition to Lyme disease, this tick is also a primary vector of the agent of human and rodent babesiosis, Babesia microti Franca. Under laboratory conditions it has transmitted the agents of deer babesiosis, Babesia odocoilei Emerson & Wright, tularemia, Francisella tularensis McCoy & Chapin, and anaplasmosis, Anaplasma marginale Theiler. Moreover, I. scapularis can reach pest proportions on livestock, and females can cause tick paralysis in dogs.

Mating behavior, spermiogenesis, egg development time, and male mating capacity of Dermanyssus gallinae (DeGeer) (Parasitiformes: Dermanyssidae) are described. Insemination is podospermal, via spermadactyls inserted into sperm induction pores located on each side of the body (podosoma) near the posterior of coxae III. Mating behavior is of the Amblyseius-Typhlodromus type, requiring 14 min to 1 h. One or both sperm induction pores may be used. Spermatophores isolated during mating were spherical, translucent, permeable to stain, and approximately 200 µm in diameter with a smaller neck where they were held by male chelicerae. Observation and measurement of approximately 200 spermatozoa from male reproductive tracts, spermatophores, and unfed and fed mated females indicate that spermatozoa in this species do not develop beyond irregularly rounded nonpolar cells with granular cell membranes, agranular cytoplasm, and large, densely stained nuclei with average cellular and nuclear dimensions of 7.80 by 11.73 and 3.70 by 4.09 µm, respectively. Several spermatozoa were observed in medial ovarian tissue of unfed females 1d after mating, and spermatozoa were not found in five unfed females 32 d after mating. Egg maturation and protonymphal development appear staggered, not synchronous. Males probably are incapable of successfully inseminating more than three or four females in the same number of days.