Climate impacts on blacklegged tick host-seeking behavior

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Int J Parasitol
• Personal Author:
  McClure, Max ; Diuk-Wasser, Maria
• Description:
  The nymph of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the primary North American vector of the causative agent of Lyme disease, must attach to a host by the end of its questing season in order to feed and subsequently molt into an adult. The proper timing of this behavior is critical both for the tick's survival and for perpetuating the transmission of tick-borne pathogens. Questing also depletes limited nymphal lipid reserves and increases desiccation risk. Given this tradeoff, questing behavior and its environmental influences can be expressed in a dynamic state variable model. We develop what we believe to be the first such model for a tick, and investigate the influence of climate on nymph fitness predictions. We apply these results to the hypothesized inland migration of I. scapularis from island refugia, evaluating fitness under suboptimal questing strategies and uncertain environmental conditions.
• Subjects:
  Animals Arachnid Vectors Article Behavior Climate Dynamic State Variable Fitness Host-Seeking Behavior Ixodes Ixodes Scapularis Optimal Foraging Lyme Disease Vector Models, Biological Questing

  More +
• Source:
  Int J Parasitol. 49(1):37-47
• Pubmed ID:
  30447202
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6339851
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 GM105246/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States ; U01 CK000509/NCEZID CDC HHS/National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases/United States
• Volume:
  49
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:0699d58786d106e30b5ac24eb0e89f95508bb230ad38e4d6b0b7643beb55876e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/80359/cdc_80359_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.39 MB ]