ABSTRACT

Resistance of hosts to ticks has important roles in their interactions. Ticks parasitize not only mammals, but also birds, reptiles and amphibians. Thus, a better understanding of their interaction requires studies of the resistance of various host taxa. We examined the presence of ticks engorged on three species of snakes, Gloydius tsushimaensis, Lycodon rufozonatus and Elaphe climacophora, on Tsushima Islands, Japan in 2017 and 2018. The rate of G. tsushimaensis parasitized by ticks was high (87.5%), but none of those ticks were engorged, and the frequency of live ticks on each snake was low (16.1 ± 5.4%). On the other hand, engorged ticks were found on L. rufozonatus and E. climacophora, and no dead ticks were observed on them. In addition, laboratory observation revealed that two of three ticks that had attached to G. tsushimaensis died within approximately 6 days after attaching, and the third did not engorge. Our results suggest that only G. tsushimaensis among the three snake species on the Tsushima Islands possesses strong host resistance to ticks. Our study suggests that host resistance in snakes may have considerable influence on tick and host populations and on transmission dynamics between them.

摘要

宿主对蜱的抵抗力在它们的相互作用中起着重要作用。蜱虫不仅寄生于哺乳动物，还寄生于鸟类、爬行动物和两栖动物。因此，更好地了解它们的相互作用需要研究各种宿主分类群的抗性。我们检查了2017 年和 2018 年在日本对马群岛的三种蛇Gloydius tsushimaensis、Lycodon rufozonatus和Elaphe climacophora上吞食蜱的情况。 G. tsushimaensis被蜱寄生的比率很高（87.5%），但没有这些蜱中的 1 个被充血，每条蛇上活蜱的频率很低 (16.1 ± 5.4%)。另一方面，在L. rufozonatus和E. climacophora上发现了充血的蜱，并且没有观察到死蜱。此外，实验室观察显示，附着在G. tsushimaensis 上的三只蜱中有两只在附着后约 6 天内死亡，第三只没有充血。我们的研究结果表明，在对马群岛的三种蛇种中，只有G. tsushimaensis对蜱具有很强的宿主抗性。我们的研究表明，蛇的宿主抵抗力可能对蜱虫和宿主种群以及它们之间的传播动态产生相当大的影响。