Artificial infestation of white-tailed deer with ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) to study tick-host interactions.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are a main host for the adult life stages of tick species of medical and veterinary importance. Since white-tailed deer play a vital role in tick ecology, research has been conducted to understand this tick-host relationship. To date, research involving captive white-tailed deer and artificial infestation of these animals with ticks has focused on host suitability, the role of white-tailed deer in tick-borne diseases, and anti-tick vaccine research. The methodology reported for these studies was at times not descriptive and inconsistent regarding how and what region of the white-tailed deer was infested with ticks. Here, we propose a standardized method to artificially infest captive white-tailed deer with ticks for research purposes. The protocol describes a method proven effective to experimentally infest captive white-tailed deer with blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) to study tick-host interactions. The methods can be reliably transferred for experimental infestation of white-tailed deer by other multi-host and one-host tick species.

Feeding and reproductive parameters of adult female Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) and Amblyomma americanum parasitizing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann) (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) are the main host for adult Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) (blacklegged tick) and all stages of Amblyomma americanum Linnaeus (Acari: Ixodidae) (lone star tick). However, literature describing the feeding and reproductive parameters of these tick species when feeding on this host is limited. We experimentally infested white-tailed deer with adult pairs of either I. scapularis or A. americanum to improve our understanding of these tick-host relationships. Our study used tick-naïve white-tailed deer and restricted host grooming throughout the infestation. For I. scapularis, the days to repletion (mean ±â€…SE, 6.04 ±â€…0.07), engorgement weight of replete females (0.20 ±â€…0.0032 g), duration of oviposition (32 ±â€…0.45 d), egg mass weight (0.10 ±â€…0.0027 g), and number of eggs laid per tick (1,803.00 ±â€…49.00) were recorded. Data from A. americanum were also recorded, including days to repletion (11.00 ±â€…0.063), engorgement weight of replete females (0.63 ±â€…0.025 g), duration of oviposition (37.00 ±â€…1.30 d), egg mass weight (0.34 ±â€…0.017 g), and number of eggs laid per tick (5,873.00 ±â€…291.00). These biological parameter data could be used as variables in models (e.g., LYMESIM 2.0) to determine how white-tailed deer influence I. scapularis and A. americanum populations in nature, and to evaluate the protective efficacy of tick-antigen-based antitick vaccines.