Changes in the occurrence range of hosts cause the expansion of the ornate dog tick Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794) in Poland

Abstract

AbstractThe turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries brought changes in the range of many pathogens and their vectors. An example is the Dermacentor reticulatus tick. So far, relatively not numerous, their range of occurrence was divided into two areas—western European and eastern. An increase in the number and spread of this tick has been observed since the 1990s. Possible causes may be changes in the average summer and winter temperature in Europe and changes in the structure and use of agricultural land and forest areas. Changes in the distribution and abundance of mammals which are the main hosts of adult ticks, such as elk Alces alces, red deer Cervus elaphus, raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides and the red fox Vulpes vulpes, may be important factors as well. Increase in the size of the hosts populations correlates with the subsequent increase in numbers and the emergence of new tick populations. The food base of adult ornate dog ticks is a large herbivorous mammal population. Predatory mammals can support the expansion of the ticks. The expansion of the raccoon dog in the west correlates with the emergence of new D. reticulatus populations west to the previous border of the eastern range of their occurrence. The intrusion of foxes into inhabited areas may be a synanthropic factor that supports the rise of new tick populations in urban agglomerations.