Influence of microclimate on the life cycle of the common tick Ixodes ricinus (L.) in an open area in comparison with forest habitats
Daniel, M.; Cerný, V.; Dusbábek, F.; Honzáková, E.; Olejnícek, J.
Folia Parasitologica 24(2): 149-160
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0015-5683 PMID: 881143 Document Number: 113530
The results are presented of studies in the South Moravian region of Czechoslovakia on the life-cycle of Ixodes ricinus (L.) in an open grassy area, with special reference to the influence of temperature and relative humidity, and the information is compared with that obtained in earlier studies on the life-cycle of the tick in relation to the microclimate in a forest biotope in the same region [see RAE/B 65, 1508]. The results are also compared with other data on the life-cycle of the tick in other regions of Czechoslovakia. Development was completed in the open grassy areas. During the growing season it proceeded more rapidly than in the forest habitat, but the survival rate was considerably lower. More than 98% of the engorged nymphs and nearly 72% of the engorged larvae overwintering on the surface of the soil or at depths down to 30 cm survived, 65% of the engorged females survived and oviposited in the following year and about 92% of the eggs laid in autumn hatched in the following year.