Amblyomma americanum
Northeastern water tick | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Ixodida |
Family: | Ixodidae |
Genus: | Amblyomma |
Species: | A. americanum
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Binomial name | |
Amblyomma americanum | |
Red indicates where the species is normally found; Blue indicates other locations where the species has been reported | |
Synonyms | |
Acarus americanus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Amblyomma americanum, also known as the lone star tick, the northeastern water tick, or the turkey tick, is a type of tick indigenous to much of the eastern United States and Mexico, that bites painlessly and commonly goes unnoticed, remaining attached to its host for as long as seven days until it is fully engorged with blood. It is a member of the phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnida.[2] The adult lone star tick is sexually dimorphic, named for a silvery-white, star-shaped spot or "lone star" present near the center of the posterior portion of the adult female shield (scutum); adult males conversely have varied white streaks or spots around the margins of their shields.[3][4]
A. americanum is also referred to as the turkey tick in some Midwestern U.S. states, where wild turkeys are a common host for immature ticks.
The lone star tick is widely distributed across the East, Southeast, and Midwest United States.[3][7] It lives in wooded areas, particularly in second-growth forests with thick underbrush, where white-tailed deer (the primary host of mature ticks) reside.[4][7][8] Lone star ticks can also be found in ecotonal areas (transition zones between different biomes) such as those between forest and grassland ecosystems.[7][8] The lone star tick uses thick underbrush or high grass to attach to its host by way of questing. Questing is an activity in which the tick climbs up a blade of grass or to the edges of leaves and stretches its front legs forward, in response to stimuli from biochemicals such as carbon dioxide or heat and vibration from movement, and mounts the passing host as it brushes against the tick's legs.[9] Once attached to its host, the tick is able to move around and select a preferred feeding site.[4] The tick has also been reported outside of its range in Range and habitat
Development
The tick follows the normal developmental stages of egg, larva, nymph, and adult. It is known as a three-host tick, meaning that it feeds from a different host during each of the larval, nymphal, and adult stages. The lone star tick attaches itself to a host by way of questing.[11] The eggs are laid on the ground, hatch, and the larvae wait for or actively seek a host (questing behavior). A larva feeds, detaches from its host, molts into a nymph when on the ground, and quests by crawling on the ground or waiting on vegetation. The nymph feeds and repeats the same process as the larva, but emerges having developed the anatomy of either an adult female or male. Adults quest similarly to nymphs. The female attaches only to a species of host for reproduction. The female engorges on much blood, expanding greatly, then detaches and converts the blood meal into eggs, which are laid on the ground. Females of large species of Amblyomma engorge to a weight of 5 g and lay 20,000 eggs. The female dies after this single egg-laying. The male takes repeated small meals of blood and attempts to mate repeatedly whilst on the same host. Feeding times for larvae last 4–7 days, nymphs for 5–10 days, and adults for 8 to 20 days. The time spent molting and questing off the host can occupy the remainder of 6 to 18 months for a single tick to complete its lifecycle. The lifecycle timing is often expanded by diapause (delayed or inactivated development or activity) in adaptation to seasonal variation of moisture and heat. Ticks are highly adapted for long-term survival off the host without feeding and can extract moisture directly from humid air. However, survival is greatly reduced by excess heat, dryness, and lack of suitable hosts to which to attach. Survival on the host is also greatly reduced by grooming and by hypersensitive immune reactions in the skin against the feeding of the ticks.[12]
Hosts
The lone star tick is an aggressive, generalist feeder; it actively pursues blood meals and is not specific about the species of host upon which it feeds.
Larval lone star ticks have been found attached to birds and small mammals, and nymphal ticks have been found on these two groups, as well as on small rodents.[4] Adult lone star ticks usually feed on medium and large mammals,[6] and are very frequently found on white-tailed deer.[2] Lone star ticks also feed on humans at any stage of development.[2]
Vector
Like all ticks, it can be a vector of diseases including human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis (
Though the primary bacterium responsible for Lyme disease,
In 2013, in response to two cases of severe febrile illness occurring in two farmers in northwestern Missouri, researchers determined the lone star tick can transmit the
Meat allergy
The bite of the lone star tick can cause a person to develop
See also
- Ticks of domestic animals
- Surendra RS; Shahid Karim (2021). "Tick Saliva and the Alpha-Gal Syndrome: Finding a Needle in a Haystack". Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 11. PMID 34354960.
- Surendra RS; Choudhary S; Vorobiov J; Commins SP J; Shahid Karim (2024). "Tick bite-induced alpha-gal syndrome and immunologic responses in an alpha-gal deficient murine model". Frontiers in Immunology. 14. PMC 10882631.
References
- ^ "Amblyomma americanum" at the Encyclopedia of Life
- ^ PMID 16618870.
- ^ a b "Geographic distribution of ticks that bite humans". cdc.gov. enters for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD). June 1, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "lone star tick - Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus)". entnemdept.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
- ^ "Ehrlichiosis | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
- ^ a b c "Amblyomma americanum (Lone star tick)". Wisconsin Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
- ^ a b c "CVBD - Lone Star Tick - Amblyomma americanum". www.cvbd.org. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
- ^ ISBN 978-0195059106.
- ^ Resources, University of California Agriculture and Natural. "Tick Biology". entomology.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
- ^ "3 tick that causes red meat allergy found in Waterloo region over last 3 years". CBC News. 2019-07-05.
- ^ Holderman, Christopher J., and Phillip E. Kaufman. Lone Star Tick Amblyomma Americanum (Linnaeus): (Acari: Ixodidae). Entomology and Nematology Department, UF/IFAS Extension. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), Jan. 2014. Web.
- ^ Walker, M.D. (2017) Ticks on dogs and cats. The Veterinary Nurse, 8(9), 486-492
- PMID 18452807.
- S2CID 270178.
- PMID 23781138.
- ^ Piesman J, Sinsky RJ., Ability of Ixodes scapularis, Dermacentor variabilis, and Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) to acquire, maintain, and transmit Lyme disease spirochetes (Borrelia burgdorferi) ; J Med Entomol. 1988 September; 25(5):336-9.
- PMID 23878186.
- ^ "CDC Reports More Cases of Heartland Virus Disease". CDC. January 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ^ a b c "NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
- PMID 21453959. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ PMID 25747720.
- PMID 31156631.
- S2CID 388053.
- S2CID 2400078.
External links
- Data related to Amblyomma americanum at Wikispecies
- Media related to Amblyomma americanum at Wikimedia Commons
- Kansas State University - Animal Parasitology - Hypostomes (and dentition) of three tick species