The ecology of the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus L. Host relationships of the tick: Part 1. Review of previous work in Britain

• Published in: Parasitology
• Main Author: Milne, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1949
• Subjects: Infectious Diseases; Animal Science and Zoology; Parasitology; Macleod; mountain hare
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000083724; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000083724

On the whole published data on the host relationships of Ixodes ricinus L. in Britain are rather inadequate, but the following points emerge: The tick (stages unspecified) has been found on twenty-three mammal, twenty-one bird and one reptile species. These include both wild and domestic animals. There are no records of non-hosts. The host list is incomplete. Its length and variety suggest, however, that the tick will feed on practically any mammal or bird it may meet. Tick stages found on fifteen mammal, twenty-one bird and one reptile species have been recorded. For a number of reasons (see text) ‘recorded’ absence of any tick stage from an animal is not necessarily reliable. This, together with the incompleteness of the host list, detracts a little from the assertion of several authors, namely, that in general larvae and nymphs occur on both mammals and birds, but adult ticks on mammals only. No precise host-potentials for any wild species relative to sheep (or other important farm stock) have been published in Britain. But, in one area, Scottish mountain hare, red deer and roe deer have been slaughtered on a large scale because of their alleged importance as hosts. Very inadequate data from two authors seem to suggest that as normally stocked populations ( a ) grouse are negligible compared with sheep as hosts to female ticks, and ( b ) mountain hare and red deer may play quite an important part in maintaining female ticks. Suggestion ( b ) at least should not be taken seriously until comprehensively investigated. One author shows that an ‘appreciable’ tick population was maintained on a hill grazing by a reduced wild fauna in the absence of sheep. Another author shows that the tick population of a grazing was considerably reduced by acaricidal treatment of sheep, together with almost complete extermination of a section of the wild fauna. Unfortunately, the two factors cannot be disentangled. We would like to thank Mr Charles Elton, Director, Bureau of Animal Population, Oxford, and Dr J. MacLeod of the ...