Ticks on small mammals at two localities in southern Saskatchewan, Canada and the detection ofRickettsia peacockii(Rickettsiaceae) inDermacentor andersoni(Acari: Ixodidae) nymphs

Abstract

AbstractSeventeenMyodes gapperi(Vigors) (Rodentia: Cricetidae), 13Peromyscus maniculatus(Wagner) (Rodentia: Cricetidae), 12Microtus pennsylvanicus(Ord) (Rodentia: Cricetidae), fourZapus princepsAllen (Rodentia: Cricetidae), threeIctidomys tridecemlineatus(Mitchill) (Rodentia: Sciuridae), and eight shrews (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) collected at Blackstrap Lake (BL), and 48P. maniculatus, 15Z. princeps,15M. pennsylvanicus, and oneSorex monticolusMerriam (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) collected at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park (SLPP), in southern Saskatchewan, Canada were examined for ticks. Although no adult ticks were detected on small mammals at either locality,Dermacentor variabilis(Say) (Acari: Ixodidae) larvae (n=144) and nymphs (n=7) were found on four species of small mammal at BL. At SLPP, bothD. variabilislarvae (n=71) and nymphs (n=6), andDermacentor andersoniStiles (Acari: Ixodidae) nymphs (n=9) were collected from small mammals. Both tick species were present onP. maniculatusandM. pennsylvanicusat SLPP, indicating an overlap in their host range and, hence, the potential for transmission of microorganisms between tick species at sites where they coexist. However, the results of polymerase chain reaction assays used to detect bacteria of the genusRickettsiada Rocha-Lima (Rickettsiaceae) in ticks, revealed thatR. peacockiiNiebylskiet al. only occurred in nymphs ofD. andersoni, whereas noRickettsiawere present in the larvae and nymphs ofD. variabilis.