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Habitat and occurrence of ixodid ticks in the Liguria region, northwest Italy

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 May 2014

Abstract

Questing ticks were collected during monthly dragging sessions (March–August 2011) in three provinces of the Liguria region, north-western Italy, to evaluate the species occurrence, spatial distribution and relative abundance. A total of 1,464 specimens were collected in 94 dragging sites. Ixodes ricinus was the most abundant species (81.3 % of collected ticks), followed by Haemaphysalis punctata (10.9 %), Dermacentor marginatus (5.5 %), Ixodes frontalis (1.3 %), and Rhipicephalus spp. (0.9 %). Ixodes frontalis is reported for the first time in Liguria. An aggregation of I. ricinus positive sites was observed in inland areas characterized by dense forests dominated by deciduous trees (Castanetum and Fagetum phytoclimatic zones), especially in the west of the region where the differences in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were higher between inland and coastal sites. Negative binomial regression for repeated measures was used to model the associations of NDVI and season with counts of host-seeking I. ricinus nymphs. The NDVI was a good predictor of I. ricinus nymphs abundance, and confirmed its utility in discriminating habitat suitability for this vector in north-western coastal Italy, where dry habitat conditions may limit the distribution of this species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all personnel of Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Piedmont, Liguria and Aosta Valley, and University of Turin, directly or indirectly involved in this work, and especially those who helped us in the fieldwork: Debora Corbellini, Saverio Bessone and Elisa Martello. This study was supported by the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta depending from the Ministry of Health, Italy (IZSPLV 02/09 RC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Sciencies, University of Turin, Via L. da Vinci 44, 10095, Grugliasco, Turin, Italy

    Leonardo A. Ceballos, Laura Tomassone & Alessandro Mannelli

  2. Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Piedmont Liguria and Aosta Valley, Turin, Italy

    Maria D. Pintore, Alessandra Pautasso, Walter Mignone & Cristina Casalone

  3. Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Donal Bisanzio

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  1. Leonardo A. Ceballos
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  2. Maria D. Pintore
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  3. Laura Tomassone
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Correspondence to Laura Tomassone.

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Ceballos, L.A., Pintore, M.D., Tomassone, L. et al. Habitat and occurrence of ixodid ticks in the Liguria region, northwest Italy. Exp Appl Acarol 64, 121–135 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-014-9794-y

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