title: Seasonal distribution of ticks in four habitats near the demilitarized zone, Gyeonggi-do (Province), Republic of Korea.
abstract: This study describes the seasonal distribution of larvae, nymph, and adult life stages for 3 species of ixodid ticks collected by tick drag and sweep methods from various habitats in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Grasses less than 0.5 m in height, including herbaceous and crawling vegetation, and deciduous, conifer, and mixed forests with abundant leaf/needle litter were surveyed at United States (US) and ROK operated military training sites and privately owned lands near the demilitarized zone from April-October, 2004 and 2005. Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann adults and nymphs were more frequently collected from April-August, while those of Haemaphysalis flava Neumann and Ixodes nipponensis Kitaoka and Saito were collected more frequently from April-July and again during October. H. longicornis was the most frequently collected tick in grass habitats (98.9%), while H. flava was more frequently collected in deciduous (60.2%) and conifer (57.4%) forest habitats. While more H. flava (54.1%) were collected in mixed forest habitats than H. longicornis (35.2%), the differences were not significant. I. nipponensis was more frequently collected from conifer (mean 8.8) compared to deciduous (3.2) and mixed (2.4) forests.
authors.affiliation: 5th Medical Detachment, 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, Unit 15247, APO AP 96205-5247, USA.
authors.forename: Sung Tae
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Heung Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: In-Yong
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kollars
authors.forename: Alfredo R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sancho
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Sames
authors.forename: Joon-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Terry A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012621:Seasons; D013987:Ticks / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Haemaphysalis; Ixodes; Korea; habitats; seasonal distribution; tick