Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-7tdvq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-16T16:27:57.699Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The feeding of the tick, Ixodes ricinus L., in relation to the reproductive condition of the host

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Robert Carrick
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Leeds
W. S. Bullough
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Leeds

Extract

1. The feeding of the tick Ixodes ricinus was studied in relation to the reproductive condition of the host, in this case the hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus.

2. Hedgehogs in hibernation, in full breeding condition, and injected with male and female sex hormones, were parasitized with unfed nymphs and female ticks in midwinter.

3. Attachment and engorgement of the ticks was successfully accomplished on both sexually active and inactive hosts. The longer time required to complete engorgement on the hibernating hedgehogs may be explained by their lower blood temperature.

4. Parasitization by this tick does not appear to be related to the reproductive condition of the host animal, and the amount of sex hormone in the host's blood has no apparent immediate effect on the fecundity of the tick.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1940

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.)

References

REFERENCES

Allanson, M. (1934). Philos. Trans. B, 223, 277.Google Scholar
Allanson, M. & Deansley, R. (1935). Proc. roy. Soc. B, 116, 170.Google Scholar
Deansley, R. (1934). Philos. Trans. B, 223, 239.Google Scholar
MacLeod, J. (1932). Parasitology, 24, 382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowan, W. & Gregson, F. D. (1935). Nature, Lond., 135, 652.Google Scholar