Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (2003) 105, 120-126

J.F. Carroll (2003)
Survival of larvae and nymphs of Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) in four habitats in Maryland
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 105 (1), 120-126
Abstract: Host-seeking and fed larvae and nymphs of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, were placed in mesh packets and in vials in the leaf litter on the floor of mixed deciduous forest, Virginia pine-southern red oak forest, and white pine plantations with and without Nepal microstegium, Microstegium vimineum (Trinius) A. Camus. An introduced shade-tolerant grass, Nepal microstegium, is expanding its range northeastward into areas densely populated with I. scapularis. As determined by flag sampling, the density of host-seeking nymphs at the Virginia pine sites was much lower than in the other habitats. None of the four habitats appeared to be consistently more favorable or unfavorable for the survival of confined fed and unfed I. scapularis larvae and nymphs. More unfed nymphs survived in vials than in packets in Virginia pine and white pine with Nepal grass sites. Fed larvae and nymphs tended to survive the summer better than unfed ticks.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): John F. Carroll

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ixodes scapularis		U.S.A. (NE)
	Microstegium vimineum (weed)		U.S.A. (NE)