Multivariate morphometrics of larvae of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) with notes on nomenclature

A morphological study of the larval stage of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, was conducted to further examine congruence between northern and southern morphotypes. Preliminary ANOVA revealed that 9 characters were not significantly different; thus 28 characters were used in analyses of a total of 8 groups of I. scapularis originally from Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, F1 progeny of reciprocal crosses of ticks from Massachusetts and Georgia, and I. pacificus from California. Principal components (PC) analysis identified seven setal (sternal, preanal, 3 scutal, central, and marginal dorsal) and 3 nonsetal characters (interauricular distance, hypostome internal file, and coxa I internal spur) with positive static allometries. All Mahalanobis distances in canonical variate analyses (CVA) including and excluding I. pacificus and setal characters were significantly different. Scatterplots from PC and CVAs separated I. pacificus from all other groups in the first axis; the second function arranged groups in a pattern related to latitude. Unlike the results of previously reported nymphal analyses, no multivariate effect related to longitude was revealed; however, Missouri larvae had the shortest values for 2 setal and 9 nonsetal characters. As in nymphs, frequency polygons revealed an overlapping/continuous pattern, indicative of clinal geographic variation.