Abstract
The prevalence of infection with Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in nymphal Ixodes ricinus and Haemaphysalis punctata was examined on three Swedish islands in the Baltic Sea. The proportion of H. punctata nymphs infected with Borrelia spirochetes (≈2%) was lower than that of I. ricinus nymphs (11–16%), even on the island of Stora Karlsö where both tick species feed on the single mammalian host present, the varying hare, Lepus timidus. Ten of the 12 infected questing H. punctata nymphs harboured very few spirochetes, whereas the remaining two harboured as many as 30–40 spirochetes. However, it remains to be seen whether H. punctata nymphs are capable of transmitting spirochetes during their blood meal and, thus, serving as vectors for Lyme borreliosis spirochetes. On Gotland and Fårö, I. ricinus was more abundant than H. punctata in deciduous and coniferous forest, whereas H. punctata was equally or more abundant than I. ricinus in juniper brush areas on open land. Host preference and biotope usage of H. punctata seems, in general, to prevent this tick from feeding on highly infective Borrelia reservoirs, such as Apodemus mice.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balashov, Y.S. 1972. Blood sucking ticks (Ixodoidea) — vectors of diseases of man and animals. Misc. Pub. Entomol. Soc. Am. 8: 1–376.
Brinck, P., Johnels, A., Lundholm, B., Svedmyr, A., vonZeipel, G. and Zetterberg, B. 1967. Small mammals as hosts of tick-borne encephalitis virus and vagrant ectoparasites. Oikos 18: 124–134.
Cerny, V. 1972. The tick fauna of Czechoslovakia. Folia Parasitol. 19: 87–92.
Daniel, M. and Dusbábek, F. 1994. Micrometeorological and microbabitat factors affecting maintenance and dissemination of tick-borne diseases in the environment. In: Ecological dynamics of tick-borne zoonoses, D.E.Sonenshine, and T.N.Mather (eds), pp. 91–138. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Estrada-Peña, A., Osácar, J.J., Gortázar, C., Calvete, C. and Lucientes, J. (1992). An account of the ticks of the north-eastern of Spain (Acarina: Ixodidae). Annal. Parasitol. Humaine Comparée 67: 42–49.
Gustafson, R., Jaenson, T.G.T., Gardulf, A., Mejlon, H. and Svenunugsson, B. 1996. Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection in Ixodes ricinus in Sweden. Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 27: 597–601.
Jaenson, T.G.T. and Tälleklint, L. 1996. Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) and the varying hare (Lepus timidus) on isolated islands in the Baltic Sea. J. Med. Entomol. 33: 339–343.
Jaenson, T.G.T., Tälleklint, L., Lundqvist, L., Olsen, B., Chirico, J. and Mejlon, H.A. 1994. Geographical distribution, host associations and vector roles of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae) in Sweden. J. Med. Entomol. 31: 240–256.
Kahl, O. and Knülle, W. 1988. Water vapour uptake from subsaturated atmospheres by engorged immature ixodid ticks. Exp. Appl. Acarol. 4: 73–83.
Kahl, O., Janetzki, C., Gray, J.S., Stein, J. and Bauch, R.J. 1992. Tick infection rates with Borrelia: Ixodes ricinus versus Haemaphysalis concinna and Dermacentor reticulatus in two locations in eastern Germany. Med. Vet. Entomol. 6: 363–366.
Kemp, D.H., Stone, B.F. and Binnington, K.C. 1982. Tick attachment and feeding: role of the mouthparts, feeding apparatus, salivary gland secretions and the host response. In Physiology of ticks, F.D.Obenchain and R.Galun (eds), pp. 119–168. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Lees, A.D. 1946. The water balance in Ixodes ricinus L. and certain other species of ticks. Parasitology 37: 1–20.
Marquez, F.J. and Constan, M.C. 1990. Infection d'Ixodes ricinus (L., 1758) et Haemaphysalis punctata, Canestrini et Fanzago, 1877 (Acarina: Ixodidae) par Borrelia burdorferi dans le nord de la Péninsule Ibérique (pays Basque Espagñol et Navarre). Bull. Soc. Fran. Parasitol. 8: 323–330.
Martyn, K.O. 1988. Provisional atlas of the ticks (Ixodoidea) of the British Isles. Biological Records Centre, Natural Environmental Research Council, UK.
Nakayama, Y. and Spielman, A. 1989. Ingestion of Lyme disease spirochetes by ticks feeding on infected hosts. J. Infect. Dis. 160: 166–167.
Noréhn, N. 1984. Gotlands vertebrater — En zoogeografisk studie (The vertebrates of Gotland—a zoogeographic study). Länsstyrelsen, Visby, Sweden.
Nosek, J. 1973. Some characteristic features of the life history, ecology and behaviour of the ticks Haemaphysalis inermis, H. concinna and H. punctata. In Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Acarology, pp. 479–482.
Nuttall, P., Randolph, S., Carey, D., Craine, N., Livesley, A. and Gern, L. 1994. The ecology of Lyme borreliosis in the UK. In Lyme borreliosis, J.S.Axford and D.H.E.Rees (eds), pp. 125–129. Plenum Press, New York.
Olsen, B., Jaenson, T.G.T. and Bergström, S. 1995. Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato-infected ticks on migrating birds. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61: 3082–3087.
Tälleklint, L. and Jaenson, T.G.T. 1994. Transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. from mammal reservoirs to the primary vector of Lyme borreliosis, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae), in Sweden. J. Med. Entomol. 31: 880–886.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tälleklint, L. Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in Ixodes ricinus and Haemaphysalis punctata ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on three islands in the Baltic Sea. Exp Appl Acarol 20, 467–476 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053310
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053310