Records of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing birds (Aves) in Rhode Island, USA

Abstract

Incidental to studies on Lyme disease in Rhode Island, a total of 531 birds represented by 68 species, was collected and examined for the presence of ticks and other ectoparasites. Of these birds, a total of 230, comprising 36 species, harbored ticks in the pre-adult stage. In all 1,174 ticks were collected. Tick burden ranged from 1 to 76 specimens per bird. Ixodes scapularis Say was the species most commonly encountered (n=1,005). Other species included Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard) (n=69), Ixodes muris Bishopp and Smith (n=57), Ixodes dentatus Marx (n=23), Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (n=2), and Ixodes cookei Packard (n=1). Of the 36 species of birds harboring ticks, only 3 species, the Common Yellowthroat Geothylypsis trichas (L.), Veery Catharus fuscescens (Stephens) and Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus (Lathum), served as hosts to 90% of the ticks collected. However, the small number of birds collected for several of the species represented precludes statistical comparison of many species. Dermacentor variabilis nymphs on an American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla L.) and a Mourning Dove [Zenaida macroura (L.)] as well as an I. cookei larva on a Gray Catbird [Dumetella carolinensis (L.)] constitute new host records. This study surveys for the first time avian hosts for ticks within Rhode Island, and demonstrates that birds play an important role in the life cycle of ticks.