Abstract Landscape features and the ecology of suitable hosts influence the phenology of invasive tick species.The southern cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini) (Ixodida: Ixodidae), vectors causal agents of babesiosis in cattle and it infests exotic, feral nilgai, Bosephalus tragocamelus Pallas, and indigenous white-tailed deer, Odocoilus virginianus (Zimmerman), on the SouthTexas coastal plain wildlife corridor.The corridor extends from the Mexico border to cattle ranches extending north from inside Willacy Co. Outbreaks of R. microplus infesting cattle and nondomesticated ungulate hosts since 2014 in the wildlife corridor have focused attention on host infestation management and, by extension, dispersal. However, there is a knowledge gap on the ecology of R. microplus outbreaks in the SouthTexas coastal plain wildlife corridor. Ixodid distribution on the wildlife corridor is strongly influenced by habitat salinity. Saline habitats, which constitute ≈25% of the wildlife corridor, harbor few ixodids because of occasional salt toxicity from hypersaline wind tides and infrequent storm surges, and from efficient egg predation by mud flat fiddler crabs, Uca rapax (Smith). Rhipicephalus microplus infestations on nilgai were more prevalent in part of the corridor with mixed low salinity and saline areas than in an area that is more extensively saline. The different levels of R. microplus infestation suggest that man-made barriers have created isolated areas where the ecology of R. microplus outbreaks involve infested nilgai.The possible utility of man-made barriers for R. microplus eradication in the lower part of the SouthTexas coastal plain wildlife corridor is discussed.

中文翻译：

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Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Ixodida: Ixodidae) 的景观生态学在南德克萨斯沿海平原野生动物走廊爆发，包括人为障碍

摘要 景观特征和适宜宿主的生态影响入侵蜱物种的物候。 nilgai、Bosephalus tragocamelus Pallas 和土著白尾鹿 Odocoilus virginianus (Zimmerman)，位于南德克萨斯沿海平原野生动物走廊。该走廊从墨西哥边境延伸到从 Willacy Co. 内部向北延伸的牧场。自 2014 年以来，野生动物走廊中的牛和非驯化有蹄类动物寄主将注意力集中在寄主侵染管理上，进而扩大传播。然而，在 R 的生态方面存在知识空白。南德克萨斯沿海平原野生动物走廊的微量暴发。野生动物走廊上的硬蜱分布受栖息地盐度的强烈影响。占野生动物走廊约 25% 的盐分栖息地，由于高盐度风潮和罕见的风暴潮偶尔造成盐中毒，以及泥滩招潮蟹（Uca rapax (Smith)）对卵的有效捕食，几乎没有硬齿鲨。Rhipicephalus microplus 在 nilgai 上的侵染在低盐度和盐度混合区域的走廊部分比在更广泛的盐度区域更普遍。不同程度的 R. microplus 侵染表明，人为屏障创造了孤立的区域，在这些区域，R. microplus 爆发的生态涉及受感染的 nilgai。人造屏障对 R. 的可能效用。