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The effect of infection with Lyme disease spirochetes (Borrelia burgdorferi) on the phototaxis, activity, and questing height of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

H. Lefcort  and
L. A. Durden
H. Lefcort*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Landrum Box 8042, Statesboro, Georgia, 30460-8042, USA
L. A. Durden
Affiliation:
Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Landrum Box 8056, Statesboro, Georgia 30460-8056, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Biology Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, 99258-0001USA. Tel: 509-328-4220 ext 3306. Fax: 509-324-5718. E-mail: [email protected].
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Summary

Little is known about the effects of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, on its tick vectors. The purpose of this study was to determine the behavioural and ecological effects of infection by the bacterium in nymphal and adult black-legged (Ixodes scapularis) ticks. We found that the effects of infection were more pronounced in adults than in nymphs. Compared to uninfected adults, infected adults were less able to overcome physical obstacles, avoided vertical surfaces, were less active and quested at lower heights. Infected nymphs showed increased phototaxis and attraction to vertical surfaces. Infected nymphs also showed trends toward increased questing height and a greater tendency to overcome physical obstacles although these trends were not statistically significant. These altered behaviours in an infected tick may affect survival or pathogen transmission and may reflect kin selection in the bacterial pathogen.

Keywords

Borrelia burgdorferiIxodes scapularisparasitic modification of behaviourticksLyme disease
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 113 , Issue 2 , August 1996 , pp. 97 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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