Lyme disease agent detected in blacklegged tick populations in eastern Tennessee.

Comparison of blacklegged tick surveys done in eastern Tennessee in 2006 (A) versus 2017 (B) ... Lyme disease agent newly detected in 4 counties!

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/9/18-0343_article

Gulf Coast tick vs. American dog tick

Two adult males: a Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) on the left; an American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) on the right.  Both collected in eastern Tennessee, July 2018.

Nymphal longhorned ticks, at first glance, look quite similar to nymphal lone stars.

Nymphal life-stage of the exotic, invasive longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) on the left, compared to a nymphal lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) on the right. Similar on first glance, but on second glance their mouthparts are distinctively different!

These guys were collected in June 2018 from vegetation in southwestern Virginia.

It's the time of year to start checking for Lone Star tick larvae

It's that time of year ... out in the woods, Lone Star tick egg-masses are starting to hatch into larvae.  Lint rollers are your friend!

Know your nymphs!

Three nymphs of blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, three nymphs of lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and eight nymphs of the exotic longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis.

Source: https://fonseca-lab.com/category/research-projects/ticks-tick-borne-diseases/

Popular press article on factors underlying geographic variation in Lyme disease incidence

https://www.wiscontext.org/confounding-geography-lyme-disease-us

Larval engorgement photo-series

A time series of larval blacklegged tick engorgement.

Life stages of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis)

 Male and female - active from late fall through spring.

Nymphs - active in late spring through summer

 Larvae - active mid to late summer

Engorged female with egg mass laid in winter.  Eggs hatch mid-summer.

Female and male on a deer - only females become engorged.

"Dragging" to collect host-seeking ticks from vegetation

Lyme gradients in the Appalachians?

University of Tennessee MS student Janetta Kelly has joined the team, and will be comparing levels of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in blacklegged ticks along the eastern vs western foothills of the southern Appalachians.

Our first field trip to Manchester KY produced blacklegged ticks on all the transects we dragged.

Video clips of human-biting ticks from the eastern United States

These 720P 30fps video clips are downloadable from Vimeo in H.264 MP4 format.

American Dog Tick female (Dermacentor variabilis)  1:19 min

https://vimeo.com/223913243

American Dog Tick female (Dermacentor variabilis)  1:45 min

https://vimeo.com/224372258

American Dog Tick male (Dermacentor viariabilis) 3:15 min

https://vimeo.com/224373090

Blacklegged Tick female (Ixodes scapularis; "Deer Tick")  1:22 min

https://vimeo.com/152856969

Blacklegged Tick male (Ixodes scapularis; "Deer Tick")   1:46mm

https://vimeo.com/225437640

Blacklegged Tick nymphs (Ixodes scapularis; "Deer Tick")  0:34 min

https://vimeo.com/179964347

Blacklegged Tick larvae (Ixodes scapularis; "Deer Tick")  0:30 min

https://vimeo.com/184602687

Lone Star Tick female (Amblyomma americanum)  2:26 min

https://vimeo.com/225438138

Lone Star Tick male (Amblyomma americanum) 1:50 min

https://vimeo.com/225438669

Lone Star Tick nymph (Amblyomma americanum)  2:42 min

https://vimeo.com/229216974

Credit: Graham Hickling ghicklin@utk.edu
Center for Wildlife Health, University of Tennessee Knoxville