[Chrological and physiological age of the tick Ixodes ricinus females]

Changes of the physiological age in 3 groups of the laboratory reared Ixodes ricinus females were investigated over the period of 6-16 months. The longevity was studied in 27 groups of the tick females from a wild population during 2 seasons of the tick activity. Physiological age of the tick females was determined at the beginning of the study and then monthly till the end of the study. It was established that physiological ageing takes place during the life of the tick, and the ageing of different females is carried out non-uniformly. Physiologically young females (of the second physiological age) in the groups of laboratory reared ticks were occurred right up to 11th month after molting (including 4 months of hibernation in a refrigerator). Ticks of the second physiological age were occurred in the groups from wild populations after one or two periods of hibernation. Hence, in natural conditions some females may be physiologically young both in the first and second seasons of the ticks' activity. On the other hand, physiologically old tick females (of the 4th physiological age) appeared in the groups in a month after molting. The supposition is proposed that the tick population is heterogeneous by the rate of the individual ageing. It means that different specimens differ by the rate of consumption of their storage compounds i.e. by the intensity of metabolism. Such difference may be a cause of the variability in chemical conditions in the gut of the tick being the habitat of Borrelia.