Abstract
Diversity and phenology of host-seeking ticks were studied in the Flint Hills region of the USA, which is a prominent region for raising beef cattle. Between a two-year period from 2015–2017, ticks were collected using the dragging method from 9 distant locations, 6 of which were studied seasonally and 3 continuously throughout the study period. Of the 10,055 ticks collected, 76.5% were the Lonestar tick (Amblyomma americanum), 14% were American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), and 9.1% were Gulf Coast tick (A. maculatum). The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis were also found, albeit in low numbers. The host-seeking activity of all three predominant tick species peaked once during the late spring, summer months in the region. The phenology of all ticks was positively associated with accumulated temperature and photoperiod. Additionally, the Normalized Vegetation Difference Index (NDVI) was associated with A. americanum, and saturation deficit and relative humidity were negatively associated with D. variabilis and A. maculatum tick phenology, respectively. This finding is useful to predict the times during a year in which cattle are at higher risk for exposure to these ticks and associated pathogens.
Highlights
During the two-year study period from 2015–2017, a total of 10,557 ticks were collected from 9 collection sites in the Flint Hills ecoregion; 8083 (76.5%) of these ticks were identified as Amblyomma americanum; 1,481 (14.0%) as D. variabilis; 965 (9.14%) as A. maculatum; and
All developmental stages of A. americanum and adult stage D. variabilis were collected from all sampling sites, whereas A. maculatum were not collected from study sites located north of Manhattan, Kansas
The findings reported here provide a fresh insight into the tick ecology in this region, which will be useful for designing management practices to counter the spread of bovine anaplasmosis and other tick-borne diseases
Summary
Ticks are medically- and economically important hematophagous pests that affect livestock production worldwide. Estimated losses due to bovine anaplasmosis alone, which is caused by a rickettsia pathogen that is biologically transmitted by ticks ranges in the several millions of dollars every year in the US. Previous estimates of the cost of a clinical bovine case due to anaplasmosis was estimated to be around. $400/animal [1,2], and in 1996 the total economic impact was conservatively estimated to be around $300 million/year in the U.S alone [3].
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