21st Annual Student Research Conference
Capture Method Success and Survey of Daily Tick Activity
Emilie R. Twining Gerdes
Dr. Stephanie Fore, Faculty Mentor
The objective of this study was to determine if our ability to capture ticks (Amblyomma americanum) was affected by time of day or capture method. Tick activity is likely to be affected by environmental conditions which vary in predictable manner over 24-hour periods. Ticks were gathered in an old field site every four hours during three 24-hour periods using bait and drag methods and sampling sites that were repeatedly sampled and sites that were sampled only once during the 24-hour period. Consecutive bait stations appear to attract ticks to the site as these sites captured significantly more ticks. All other sampling methods were not significantly different. Significantly more ticks were captured with these other methods at the 9 am sampling period. These data suggest that ticks may be responding to some environmental cue.
Keywords: ticks, sampling method, Amblyomma americanum
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 3-10
Location: OP Lobby
Time: 4:15