title: Range expansion of Ixodes ricinus to higher altitude, and co-infestation of small rodents with Dermacentor marginatus in the Northern Apennines, Italy.
abstract: Immature ticks (Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor marginatus) were collected from small rodents (Apodemus spp. and Myodes glareolus), in the Northern Apennines, Italy, at an altitude up to 1650 m above sea level (a.s.l.), from 2009 through 2012. While D. marginatus had been found at the same location in studies carried out in 1994, I. ricinus was very rare or absent. Prevalence (95% confidence interval) of infestation by I. ricinus larvae on Apodemus spp. was 54.4% (47.5, 61.2), and it was greater than prevalence of D. marginatus larvae on the same hosts (23.3%, 17.8, 29.5). The mean (standard deviation) numbers of I. ricinus and D. marginatus larvae per individual Apodemus spp. were similar: 2.3 (4.1) and 2.1 (9.8), respectively. The monthly infestation pattern of the two tick species on Apodemus spp. were different. I. ricinus larvae were more frequent in June and September, than in July-August. I. ricinus nymphs were generally rare, and were most frequently found in July. The prevalence of D. marginatus larvae peaked in July-August, whereas nymphs were mostly active in August-September. Increasing population densities of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and increasing temperatures, in the last decades, in the Apennine area might have contributed to the observed range expansion of I. ricinus.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, University of Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martello
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, University of Torino, Italy. Electronic address: alessandro.mannelli@unito.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannelli
authors.affiliation: Ufficio Territoriale per la Biodiversità, Corpo Forestale dello Stato, Lucca, Italy.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ragagli
authors.affiliation: Ufficio Territoriale per la Biodiversità, Corpo Forestale dello Stato, Lucca, Italy.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ambrogi
authors.affiliation: Osservatorio Permanente per Patologie a trasmissione Vettoriale, ASL2 Lucca, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Selmi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, University of Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ceballos
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, University of Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tomassone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D018884:Ixodes / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051189:Murinae; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012621:Seasons; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*
keywords: Apennines; Apodemus spp.; Dermacentor marginatus; Italy; Ixodes ricinus