Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-kg7gq Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-11-04T06:04:12.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adaptive timing of detachment in a tick parasitizing hole-nesting birds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

J. WHITE ,
D. J. A. HEYLEN  and
E. MATTHYSEN
J. WHITE*
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
D. J. A. HEYLEN
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
E. MATTHYSEN
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author: Tel: +32 3 265 34 70. Fax: +32 3 265 34 74. E-mail: joel.white@ua.ac.be
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In non-permanent parasites with low intrinsic mobility such as ticks, dispersal is highly dependent on host movements as well as the timing of separation from the hosts. Optimal detachment behaviour is all the more crucial in nidicolous ticks as the risk of detaching in non-suitable habitat is high. In this study, we experimentally investigated the detachment behaviour of Ixodes arboricola, a nidicolous tick that primarily infests birds roosting in tree-holes. We infested great tits with I. arboricola larvae or nymphs, and submitted the birds to 2 experimental treatments, a control treatment in which birds had normal access to nest boxes and an experimental treatment, in which the birds were prevented access to their nest boxes for varying lengths of time. In the control group, most ticks detached within 5 days, whereas in the experimental group, ticks remained on the bird for as long as the bird was prevented access (up to 14 days). This prolonged attachment caused a decrease in survival and engorgement weight in nymphs, but not in larvae. The capacity of I. arboricola larvae to extend the duration of attachment in non-suitable environments with no apparent costs, may be an adaptation to unpredictable use of cavities by roosting hosts during winter, and at the same time may facilitate dispersal of the larval instars.

Keywords

Ixodes arboricoladetachmentdispersalcavity-nesting birdsParus majornidicolous ticktransmission

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 139 , Issue 2 , February 2012 , pp. 264 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Amin, O. M. (1970). Circadian rhythm of dropping of engorged larvae and nymphs of American dog tick Dermacentor-Variabilis Say (Acarina-Ixodidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 7(2), 251–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balashov, Y. S. (1972). Bloodsucking ticks (Ixodidea) – vectors of diseases of man and animals. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 8, 159–376.Google Scholar
Belozerov, V. N. (1982). Diapause and biological rhythms in ticks. In Physiology of Ticks (ed. Obenchain, F. D. and Galun, R.), pp. 469–500. Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bianchi, M. W. and Barre, N. (2003). Factors affecting the detachment rhythm of engorged Boophilus microplus female ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from Charolais steers in New Caledonia. Veterinary Parasitology 112(4), 325–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cramp, S. P. (1993). Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: the birds of the western paleartic. Blue and Great Tits. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Dutoit, J. S., Fourie, L. J. and Horak, I. G. (1994). Detachment rhythms of immature Ixodes-Rubicundus from their natural host, the rock elephant shrew (Elephantulus-Myurus). Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 61(2), 149–153.Google Scholar
George, J. E., Pound, J. M. and Davey, R. B. (1998). Observations of the rhythm of detachment of engorged female Boophilus annulatus (Acari: Ixodidae) from cattle. Journal of Medical Entomology 35(4), 479–482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haarlov, N. (1962). Variation In Ixodid tick, Ixodes Arboricola Schulze And Schlottke 1929. Parasitology 52(3–4), 425–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heylen, D. J. A. (2011). Parasite-host interactions between ticks and hole-breeding songbirds. Ph.D. thesis, University of Antwerp, Belgium.Google Scholar
Heylen, D. J. A. and Matthysen, E. (2010). Contrasting detachment strategies in two congeneric ticks (Ixodidae) parasitizing the same songbird. Parasitology 137(4), 661–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heylen, D. J. A. and Matthysen, E. (2011). Differential virulence in two congeneric ticks infesting songbird nestlings. Parasitology 138(08), 1011–1021. doi: doi:10.1017/S0031182011000618.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hillyard, P. D. (1996). Ticks of North-West Europe. Backhuys Publishers, London, UK.Google Scholar
Hinde, R. A. (1952). The behaviour of the Great Tit (Parus major) and some other related species. Behaviour Suppl. 2, 1–201.Google Scholar
Hudde, H. and Walter, G. (1988). Verbreitung und Wirtswahl der Vogelzecke Ixodes arboricola (Ixodoidea, Ixodidae) in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Vogelwarte 34, 201–207.Google Scholar
Liebisch, G. (1996). Biology and life cycle of Ixodes (Pholeoixodes) arboricola Schulze and Schlottke, 1929 (Ixodidae). In Acarology IX (ed. Mitchell, R., Horn, D. J., Needham, G. R. and Welbourn, W. C.), pp. 453–455. The Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus, OH, USA.Google Scholar
Mather, T. N. and Spielman, A. (1986). Diurnal detachment of immature deer ticks (Ixodes-Dammini) from nocturnal hosts. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 35(1), 182–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matuschka, F. R., Richter, D., Fischer, P. and Spielman, A. (1990 a). Nocturnal detachment of the tick Ixodes-Hexagonus from nocturnally active hosts. Medical And Veterinary Entomology 4(4), 415–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matuschka, F. R., Richter, D., Fischer, P. and Spielman, A. (1990 b). Time of repletion of subadult Ixodes-Ricinus ticks feeding on diverse hosts. Parasitology Research 76(6), 540–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matuschka, F. R., Richter, D. and Spielman, A. (1991). Differential detachment from resting hosts of replete larval and nymphal Ixodes ticks. Journal of Parasitology 77(3), 341–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCoy, K. D., Boulinier, T., Tirard, C. and Michalakis, Y. (2003). Host-dependent genetic structure of parasite populations: Differential dispersal of seabird tick host races. Evolution 57(2), 288–296.Google Scholar
Nord, A., Nilsson, J. F., Sandell, M. I. and Nilsson, J. A. (2009). Patterns and dynamics of rest-phase hypothermia in wild and captive blue tits during winter. Journal of Comparative Physiology B-Biochemical Systemic and Environmental Physiology 179(6), 737–745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poulin, R. (2007). Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites, 2nd Edn. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, P. W. (1980). Evolutionary Biology of Parasites. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.Google ScholarPubMed
Rechav, Y. (1978). Drop-off rhythms of engorged larvae and nymphs of bont tick, Amblyomma-Hebraeum (Acari-Ixodidae), and factors that regulate them. Journal of Medical Entomology 14(6), 677–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rechav, Y. (1992). Naturally acquired-resistance to ticks – a global view. Insect Science and Its Application 13(4), 495–504.Google Scholar
Sonenshine, D. E. (1993). Biology of Ticks. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Spitalska, E., Literak, I., Kocianova, E. and Taragel'ova, V. (2011). The Importance of Ixodes arboricola in transmission of Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the Czech Republic, Central Europe. Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases 11(9), 1235–1241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stachurski, F. and Adakal, H. (2010). Exploiting the heterogeneous drop-off rhythm of Amblyomma variegatum nymphs to reduce pasture infestation by adult ticks. Parasitology 137(7), 1129–1137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, F., Poulin, R. and Brodeur, J. (2010). Host manipulation by parasites: a multidimensional phenomenon. Oikos 119(8), 1217–1223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, R. L., Tomas, G., Forsman, J. T., Broggi, J. and Monkkonen, M. (2010). Predator proximity as a stressor in breeding flycatchers: mass loss, stress protein induction, and elevated provisioning. Ecology 91(6), 1832–1840.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varma, M. G. R., Hellerhaupt, A., Trinder, P. K. E. and Langi, A. O. (1990). Immunization of guinea-pigs against Rhipicephalus-Appendiculatus adult ticks using homogenates from unfed immature ticks. Immunology 71(1), 133–138.Google ScholarPubMed