Horizontal movement of adult Ixodes dammini (Acari: Ixodidae) attracted to CO2-baited traps.

The ability of male and female deer ticks, Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman, & Corwin, to move horizontally was evaluated by performing a mark-recapture study. In each of two experiments, 120 ticks were marked with fluorescent powder and released at predetermined distances from a CO2-baited trap. The mean recruitment distance was 1.8 m after 6 d of trap operation. This distance is appreciably lower than those calculated from previous studies of several other species of ixodid ticks, including Amblyomma americanum (9.9 m for 48 h) and Dermacentor andersoni (6.3 m for 48 h). Both the number of ticks attracted and the distance traveled to the trap were dependent upon the duration of trap operation (P less than 0.001 for both cases).