2023 Volume 74 Issue 2 Pages 41-51
Tick-borne diseases are a serious concern in Japan, and it is important to clarify the factors determining the distribution of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae). To investigate how the presence of sika deer ( Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838) affects the distribution of hard ticks, hard ticks were collected from 28 sites in Tottori Prefecture, western Japan, in early summer (June) and autumn (October) of 2019. In addition, data on fecal pellets of sika deer were recorded in October of 2019 and April of 2020. A total of 14,490 ticks of four genera and nine species were collected. Two species of Haemaphysalis, H. megaspinosa Saito, 1969, and H. longicornis Neumann, 1901, accounted for 94% of the total individuals. A generalized linear model revealed that the number of fecal pellets was positively related to the abundance of the dominant species, H. megaspinosa, while the total number of hard ticks and the abundances of two dominant species, H. longicornis and H. flava Neumann, 1897, showed no relationship to the number of fecal pellets. The present study suggested that sika deer might affect the population density of a hard tick species, but the relationship was complex.
