title: Relationships Between Maternal Engorgement Weight and the Number, Size, and Fat Content of Larval Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae).
abstract: The relationship between engorgement weight of female Ixodes scapularis Say and characteristics of offspring was studied using field-collected females fed on rabbits in the laboratory. The number of eggs laid was positively related to maternal engorgement weight in one trial, and larval size (estimated by scutal area) was positively related to maternal engorgement weight in the other. These results suggest a trade-off in number of eggs produced versus average size of offspring, possibly determined during late engorgement. The adults for the two trials were collected from different sites in southern Rhode Island and in different seasons (the fall adults were newly emerged, while the spring adults had presumably lived through the winter), so it is not clear whether these results reflect genetic differences or subtle environmental differences between trials. Percent egg hatch and average fat content of larvae were not related to female engorgement weight. We present a modified method to measure lipid content of pooled larval ticks.
authors.affiliation: USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Woodward Hall-PSE, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881 (hginsberg@usgs.gov ).|Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology, Woodward Hall, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881 (mdyer@uri.edu; lebrun@uri.edu).
authors.forename: Howard S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ginsberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, FSN Research Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881 (chonglee@uri.edu; bvolson@uri.edu).
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, FSN Research Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881 (chonglee@uri.edu; bvolson@uri.edu).
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Volson
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology, Woodward Hall, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881 (mdyer@uri.edu; lebrun@uri.edu).
authors.forename: Megan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology, Woodward Hall, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881 (mdyer@uri.edu; lebrun@uri.edu).
authors.forename: Roger A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lebrun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D005223:Fats / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010063:Ovum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005223:Fats
keywords: Ixodidae; acarology; development; life history; reproduction