Biology of the Western Black-Legged Tick, Ixodes Pacificus (Cooley and Kohls, 1943): a Potential Vector of Lyme Disease in South Coastal British Columbia
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BIOLOGY OF THE WESTERN BLACK-LEGGED TICK, IXODES PACIFZCUS, (COOLEY AND KOHLS, 1943): A POTENTIAL VECTOR OF LYME DISEASE IN SOUTH COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA. by Carl S. Arnason B.Sc., University of Lethbridge, 1988 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF PEST MANAGEMENT in the Department of Biological Sciences O CARL S. ARNASON SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER 1992 All rights rese~ed.This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: CARL STEFAN ARNASON Degree: Master of Pest Management Title of Thesis: BIOLOGY OF THE WESTERN BLACK-LEGGED TICK, IXODES PACIFICUS (COOLEY AND KOHLS, 1943): A POTENTIAL VECTOR OF LYME DISEASE IN SOUTH COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. R.C. Ydenberg, Associate Professor Dr. P. Belton, Associate Professor, Senior Supervisor, Department of Biological Sciences, SFU Ur. AS. Harestad, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, SFU . Philip, REg6onal'Eniom ogist, of Agriculture, driesand Food, Kelowna, B.C. Public Examiner Date Approved PARTIAL. COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Slmon Frasor University the right toI lend my thesis, proJoct or extendod essay'(ths :Itlo of which is shown bolow) To usars of tho Simon Frasar Univorslty LIbra'ry, and to mnka part lo1 or singlo copies only for such usors or In rosponsa to n raqubs4 from tho library of any othor unlverslty, or othor oducatlonal instltutlon, on its own behalf or for one of Its users, I f~rthorsgres that purmlssion for-multiplo copying of This work for scholarly purposes my be grantod by or the Daan of Grnduato Studlss. IP Is undarstood that copying or publlcatlon of thls work for flnanclat gain shall not bo allowod without my written permlsslon. Author: (slgnaturs) Abstract The western black-legged tick, Ixodespac@cus (Cooley and Kohls, 1943), is a known vector of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdo~eri,in California. Very little is known of the biology of this tick in British Columbia and nothing of its ability to vector the spirochete. This research investigates the distribution of subadult, (larval and nymphal), and adult stadia of the tick and the host preference of the subadult stadia. Field surveys for adult Ixodes pacificus were conducted during March and April of 1990, and the first eight months of 1991. Adults were collected by brushing the vegetation with a square of cloth and fieldsites classified by British Columbia Ministry of Forests standards into a biogeoclimatic zone and ecosystem. The hosts selected by subadults were determined by trapping smsll mammal hosts and hand collecting northern alligator lizards from West Vancouver and Nanoose Bay fieldsites during 1991. No adults were collected in 1990. Two hundred and fourteen male and 202 female adult ticks were collected from four fieldsites during January through July 1991, with peak numbers occurring in the month of May. The preferred habitat for all stadia of Ixodes paciJicus was the xeric ecosystem of the Coastal Douglas Fir Zone. Significantly more nymphs and larvae per host were found on lizards than on deer mice. Deer mice were the coinrnonest of eight species of small mammal host (264/323), and significantly more larvae than nymphs were collected from them in most months. None of the 189 adult ticks submitted to the B.C. Ministry of Health was positive for Lyme disease, although deer mice, evidently the reservoir for the disease in California, are common hosts of the immature stages of the tick in British Columbia. It seems likely that because there are so few cases of the disease confirmed in the province, the causal spirochete is not yet present. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. S. Bannerjee of the British Columbia Center for Disease Control for culturing tick isolates. I would also like to thank Mrs. D. Kindree of the Vancouver B.C. Lyme Borreliosis Society for her assistance in locating tick "hotspots". Finally, I would like to especially thank Mr. John Gregson, without whose earlier work this study would not have been possible. This work was partially funded by a contract with the B.C. Ministry of Health. All mammal and reptile species were collected under B.C. Ministry of Environment permit # C043883. Table of Contents Page .. Approval Page ........................................................................................ -11 ... Abstract ................................................................................................ 111 Acknowledgments .................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................... v List of Tables ........................................................................................ vii ... List of Figures ...................................................................................... ~111 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 The Ixodida .................................................................................. 1 Lyme Disease .......................................................................................... 4 Pathogenesis................................................................................. -5 Localized Erythema Migrans ............................................................. 5 Desseminated Infection .................................................................... 5 Persistent Infection ......................................................................... -6 Causal Agent ................................................................................ -7 Tick Vectors of Lyme Disease ..................................................................... 9 Europe ........................................................................................ -9 Eastern North America .................................................................. 11 Western North America .................................................................. 13 Vector Capacity and Host Reservoir Competence ............................................ 15 Objective .............................................................................................. 18 Methods and Materials ............................................................................. 19 Adult Field Surveys ...................................................................... 19 Description of Field Sites ............................................................... 21 Survey of Subadult Zxodes pacijicus Hosts ........................................... 22 A . Small Mammals ............................................................. 22 B . Northern Alligator Lizard ................................................. 23 Results ................................................................................................. 24 Collection of Adult Zxodes pacflcus .................................................. 24 Collections of Subadult Zxodes pacijicuslZxodes spp ............................... 27 A . Site 1 (West Vancouver) ................................................... 27 B . Site 2 (Nanoose Bay) ....................................................... 34 Collection of Northern Alligator Lizard .............................................. 37 Host Preference by Zxodes pacijicus Subadults ...................................... 38 Discussion ............................................................................................ 39 Conclusion............................................................................................ 55 References ............................................................................................ 56 Appendix 1 ........................................................................................... 60 Appendix 2 ........................................................................................... 64 List of Tables @gg Table 1. Total collections of questing adult Ixodespacijicus and months collection sites surveyed. .................................................................................... 25 Table 2. Total collections of questing adult Ixodes paciJicuslhour at West Vancouver from January-August 1991.. .................................................................. 26 Table 3. Monthly trap results and collection of immature ixodid species from small mammals at West Vancouver (Site 1) by month during April-August, 1991. ............................................................................................................ 28 Table 4. Number of subadult ixodid species by stadia collected from small mammals trapped in West Vancouver during April-August, 1991, by host species ........................................................................................................... 30 Table 5. Sample population rates of Ixodes paciJicus subadultslsmall mammal trapped in different Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystems................................................... 31 Table 6. Parasitism of deer mice by Ixodes pacijicus subadults by month. ....................... 32 Table 7. Frequency distribution of Ixodes pacijicus subadults on deer mice. .................... 33 Table 8. Monthly trap results and collection of subadult ixodid species from small mammals at Nanoose Bay (Site 2) during April-August 1991. ............................... 35 Table 9. Number of subadult ixodid species collected