Ticks are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites of many hosts, and are second only to mosquitoes as the most common arthropod pathogen vectors. Ticks use many different strategies to detect suitable hosts for a successful blood meal. They can actively search for hosts moving toward distant stimuli, or they wait on vegetation until a host comes within reach (aka. ‘questing’). Through the questing process, ticks detect chemical stimuli associated with the host, relying on chemosensation. Olfactory information detected from a potential host will shape tick host-seeking behaviour, enhancing the likelihood of host contact. Other factors and cues linked to host detection include heat, detected through thermo-sensitive sensilla, humidity, detected through hygroreceptors, visual cues, detected through the optical system, and vibrations, detected through mechanoreceptors. The level of bacterial infection in ticks is also an important factor influencing host detection ability and tick behaviour. Here, an overview of the multiple factors shaping host detection in ticks is presented, unifying all the elements, and providing a comprehensive model coordinated by the multimodal tick sensory system.
Sensory ecology of disease vectors
EditorsR. Ignell, C.R. Lazzari, M.G. Lorenzo and S.R. Hill
Published: 2022 Pages: 912
eISBN: 978-90-8686-932-9 | ISBN: 978-90-8686-380-8
Book Type: Edited Collection
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