Quantity of Blood Ingested by Four Species of Hard Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Fed on Domestic Dogs

Abstract

The amount of blood ingested from domestic dogs by adult female ticks averaged as follows: lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), 0.81 ml; brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille), 0.55 ml; American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis Say, 1.45 ml; and the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, 0.51 ml. The blood ingested by immature stages of A. americanum and R. sanguineus contained the following quantities of blood, respectively: larvae, 1.34 and 0.78 μl; nymphs, 27.40 and 24.02 μl. Results are compared with published data on blood imbibition from different hosts by the ticks. On the basis of the engorged weights and quantities of blood imbibed by species of ticks tested, it is apparent that the domestic dog is an acceptable host for all four tick species.