Acquisition of Borrelia burgdorferi Infection by Larval Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Associated With Engorgement Measures.

Measuring rates of acquisition of the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, by the larval stage of Ixodes scapularis Say is a useful tool for xenodiagnoses of B. burgdorferi in vertebrate hosts. In the nymphal and adult stages of I. scapularis, the duration of attachment to hosts has been shown to predict both body engorgement during blood feeding and the timing of infection with B. burgdorferi. However, these relationships have not been established for the larval stage of I. scapularis. We sought to establish the relationship between body size during engorgement of larval I. scapularis placed on B. burgdorferi-infected, white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque) and the presence or absence of infection in larvae sampled from hosts over time. Body size, time, and their interaction were the best predictors of larval infection with B. burgdorferi. We found that infected larvae showed significantly greater engorgement than uninfected larvae as early as 24 h after placement on a host. These findings may suggest that infection with B. burgdorferi affects the larval feeding process. Alternatively, larvae that engorge more rapidly on hosts may acquire infections faster. Knowledge of these relationships can be applied to improve effective xenodiagnosis of B. burgdorferi in white-footed mice. Further, these findings shed light on vector-pathogen-host interactions during an understudied part of the Lyme disease transmission cycle.

Meta-analysis of factors affecting ontogenetic development rate in the Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) complex.

Meta-analysis of 33 studies of developmental timing of Culex pipiens s.l. Linnaeus demonstrates that development rate, or the rate of progression through immature life stadia, is primarily driven by temperature, whereas immature survival is driven by temperature, density, and variability in the environmental conditions. As expected, the linear relationship of temperature and development rate is positive for the larval period as well as development to adult emergence. However, the strength of this association varies significantly. Variation in development rate can be explained using additional environmental factors of intraspecific rearing density, sex, and study methodology. Heterogeneity in development rates even once temperature has been considered emphasizes the need for further research of multiple environmental factors and in changing environments. Immature survival is also significantly impacted by variability in environmental conditions. Development rates vary between subspecies of Cx. pipiens, but these population differences are no longer significant once an environmental factor of temperature is considered. Thus, variability in development rate of these insects appears to be primarily driven by response to certain environmental conditions rather than differences between populations. Broad patterns of phenotypic variation across latitude and 96 yr of empirical estimates were not significant once environmental rearing conditions had been considered.