Abstract
Fujimoto. K., 1997. Differences in the diurnal questing activities of unfed Ixodes ovatus and Haemaphysalis flava adults(Acarina: Ixodidae)observed under experimental outdoor conditions. J. Acarol. Soc. Jpn., 6(1): 57-64.
The diurnal questing activities of unfed Ixodes. ovatus and Haemaphysalis flava adults were regularly observed under experimental outdoor conditions. Each of the unfed I. ovatus adults irregularly repeated ascents and descents in a plastic cylinder from May 17 to June 5, 1993. However, each individual unfed H. flava adult ascended in a plastic cylinder almost every day during the period in question. There was a significant difference in the proportion of the ascended days between the two tick species. This suggests that the diurnal activity during questing is different between the unfed I.ovatus and H. flava adults.This difference appears to be caused by the different susceptibility of the unfed adults to low humidity. Therefore, desiccation appears to influence the quantitative sampling of both of the tick species when the flagging method was used.
