Host seeking activity of ixodes ricinus ticks based on daily consecutive flagging samples

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Zoology

Background:

• Ixodes ricinus (I. ricinus) seasonality is crucial for understanding tick-borne disease epidemiology.
• Previous studies often rely on single-day flagging, potentially overestimating tick activity.
• Understanding tick retention time in vegetation is key to assessing free-living populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the seasonal activity patterns of I. ricinus.
• To determine the influence of environmental factors on tick host-seeking behavior.
• To differentiate between tick activity and population size using consecutive flagging.

Main Methods:

• Conducted three daily consecutive flaggings over a season in four distinct forest and meadow ecotone sites.
• Utilized first-day flagging for typical activity patterns and third-day flagging for assessing ascending tick populations.
• Analyzed the ratio of first-day to third-day samples to define host-seeking periods and their environmental dependencies.

Main Results:

• First-day nymph samples showed a bimodal activity pattern, consistent with existing literature.
• Third-day samples indicated a more stable seasonal development, with less pronounced bimodality.
• Host-seeking periods varied seasonally (long in spring, short in midsummer, intermediate in autumn) and were significantly influenced by relative humidity and solar radiation.

Conclusions:

• Consecutive flagging provides a more accurate assessment of I. ricinus population dynamics than single-day methods.
• Tick host-seeking duration is a critical factor influenced by microclimatic conditions, particularly humidity and solar radiation.
• Understanding these seasonal variations is essential for predicting tick abundance and associated disease risks.