Suitability of Birds and Mammals as Hosts for Immature Stages of the Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma Americanum (Acari: Ixodidae)12

Domestic rabbits, chickens, and several non-domestic vertebrate hosts were used in feeding studies made with similarly aged larvae and nymphs of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. Rabbits allowed to groom produced 60% fewer engorged larvae and 65% fewer engorged nymphs than restrained rabbits. Successive infestations of rabbits and chickens with larvae and nymphs had an increasingly adverse effect on tick engorgement but not on molting. Larvae and nymphs fed and dropped from chickens more quickly than from rabbits. The sex of 95% of the engorged nymphs could be predicted by weight (males averaged 4.7 mg and females averaged 9.3 mg). Engorgement success was dependent on host species, but percentage molt was always better than 92% for all host species tested. No difference in body dimensions of adult ticks could be attributed to host species if engorged nymphs were of similar weight.