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How to Collect Ticks and Interpret These Collections

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Ticks of Europe and North Africa

Abstract

To date, almost 900 species of ticks have been described. The three existing families consist of the Argasidae (soft ticks; ca. 191 species), the Ixodidae (hard ticks; ca. 702 species) and the Nuttalliellidae with only one species (Nuttalliella namaqua). They transmit more pathogen species to humans, livestock, companion animals and wildlife than any other blood-sucking arthropod species. However, research focuses predominantly on the most abundant tick species, such as Ixodes ricinus in Europe, Ixodes scapularis in the USA or Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. worldwide, and their role in the transmission of diseases. For most other less abundant tick species, information on the biology, ecology and vector capability is rare, as described in the present book. However, tick species that are not a direct threat to humans or animals can still be important for the maintenance of enzootic cycles for different pathogens. Therefore, to understand the eco-epidemiology of various diseases, it is essential to study the interactions between ticks, their hosts, the pathogens and their biotic and abiotic environment. In order to achieve such an understanding, collecting ticks is necessary. The type of collection, as well as the quality of results, depends on the host-seeking behaviour, the life history stages and the natural habitat of the ticks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Museum of Natural History, Erbprinzenstr. 13, 76133, Karlsruhe, Germany

    T. N. Petney

  2. Department of Ecology and Parasitology, Institute of Zoology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    M. P. Pfäffle

  3. Centre for Zoonoses & Environmental Microbiology, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    H. Sprong

  4. Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    A. D. Mihalca

  5. Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zaragoza, Spain

    A. Estrada-Peña

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  1. T. N. Petney
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  2. M. P. Pfäffle
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  3. H. Sprong
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  4. A. D. Mihalca
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  5. A. Estrada-Peña
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Correspondence to T. N. Petney .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Agustín Estrada-Peña

  2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Andrei Daniel Mihalca

  3. State Museum of Natural History, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Trevor N. Petney

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Petney, T.N., Pfäffle, M.P., Sprong, H., Mihalca, A.D., Estrada-Peña, A. (2017). How to Collect Ticks and Interpret These Collections. In: Estrada-Peña, A., Mihalca, A., Petney, T. (eds) Ticks of Europe and North Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63760-0_2

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