Journal article
Exploration of stable isotope analysis for tick host identification
Kathleen LoGiudice, Kathryn Kurchena, Katherine Christopher, Natasha Scott
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES | ELSEVIER GMBH, URBAN & FISCHER VERLAG | Published : 2018
Abstract
Due to the problem of tick-borne diseases, there is a need to better understand the importance of different host species in maintaining enzootic disease cycles. We explored the utility of stable isotope analysis to identify the larval hosts of questing ixodid ticks. In laboratory experiments, we used Ixodes scapularis and two host species that are important in the Lyme disease system in eastern North America. First, we tested how effectively a short-term dietary tracer (13C in corn) was reflected in molted ticks. Second, we attempted to identify the host species (either white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) or eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)), based on the isotopic signature of the tic..
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Awarded by US National Science Foundation
Awarded by Directorate For Geosciences; Division Of Earth Sciences
Funding Acknowledgements
We would like to thank David Gillikin, Anouk Verheyden-Gillikin, Roger Hoerl, and James Burtis for useful conversations and help with this project. This manuscript was greatly improved by the comments of two anonymous reviewers and the editors at this journal. We are grateful to ohn Blanchard and Jeffrey Corbin, who made useful comments on the manuscript and the Hudson Mohawk Bird Club and the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, who provided access to the field sites. We also thank the US National Science Foundation for funding Union College's isotope ratio mass spectrometer and peripherals (NSF-MRI #1229258) and the Union College summer undergraduate research program.