ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF TICKS IXODES RICINUS AND DERMACENTOR RETICULATUS IN SOME NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS OF TERNOPIL REGION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/1811-2471.2025.v.i2.15308Keywords:
Ixodes ricinus, Dermacentor reticulatus, frequency of distribution, ticks, species and sex of ticksAbstract
Summary. Ixodes ticks are considered to be the most important vectors for the transmission of many infectious agents. The epidemiological well-being of the population in a given administrative area is determined by its population. Therefore, the study of tick species composition, distribution area, biocenosis characteristics, influence of environmental factors, population status and infection with pathogenic microorganisms remains of great importance. Ticks of the species Dermacentor reticulatus and Ixodes ricinus are the focus of this paper.
The aim – to determine the density of distribution, species and sex of ticks Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus in the ecosystems of the Pidhaitsi territorial community, Ternopil district, Ternopil region.
Material and Methods. Tick samples were collected on the territory of the Pidhaitsi territorial community, Ternopil district, Ternopil region, using a 1 m x 1 m ‘flag’ on the edges of forests, river banks, lakes and ponds. Each plot studied was approximately 1000 m2 in size. The study of tick activity was carried out from September to November 2024 in two collections: the first collection was carried out in September – first half of October, the second – second half of October – first half of November. The species and sex of ticks were determined in the Laboratory of Tick Identification of the Ivan Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, based on the morphological structure of ticks.
Results. Study results showed that D. reticulatus was the dominant species (92.1 %) in the study area. The sex distribution of these ticks showed a significant predominance of males over females. The rest of the ticks were I. ricinus. There was no significant difference in the number of males and females. Both the seasonal and daily activity of D. reticulatus and I. ricinus ticks were found to be significantly affected by air temperature. The index tick frequency was 5.49.
Conclusions. The index tick frequency (5.49) was determined in the open grassy areas of the Pidhaitsi territorial community, Ternopil district, Ternopil region. A significant dominance (92.1 %) of the species D. reticulatus was found. Only 7.9 % of the total was I. ricinus. The numerical dominance of D. reticulatus males over females was observed: 69.4 and 30.5 % – during the first collection (September – early October); 66.6 % and 33.3 % (late October – early November) – during the second collection.
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