Dermacentor variabilis (Say)

Howell, Lindsey, Jelden, Katelyn, Rácz, Elizabeth, Gardner, Scott L. & Gettinger, Donald, 2016, Arthropods infesting small mammals (Insectivora and Rodentia) near Cedar Point Biological Station in southwestern Nebraska, Insecta Mundi 2016 (478), pp. 1-16 : 7

Dermacentor variabilis (Say)

Type host: unknown.

Deposition, host records, and locality: HWML 92007 , Pm. leucopus /Station Grounds 2013 ; HWML 92010 and 101692, Pm. leucopus /Station Grounds 2013 ; HWML 92011 , Pm. leucopus /Station Grounds 2013 ; HWML 92012 , Pm. leucopus /Station Grounds 2013 ; HWML 92059 , Pm. maniculatus /Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 92060 , R. megalotis / Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 92061 , Pm. leucopus /Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 92062 , R. megalotis /Breen’s Flyway 2013 ; HWML 92066 , Pm. leucopus /Breen’s Flyway 2013 .

Remarks: Dermacentor variabilis is the most common tick on dogs and humans in Nebraska, known from all regions but the northwest panhandle, with larvae and nymphs occurring in high numbers on deer mice, Peromyscus , especially in “river bottom woodlands,” and can be found in association with other tick species on the same host individual ( Rapp 1955). We collected 14 adults from humans, and nymphs from many small mammals, especially Peromyscus spp. , O. leucogaster , and M. ochrogaster . The raccoon ( Procyon lotor (Linnaeus, 1758)) and Virginia opossum ( Didelphis virginiana Kerr, 1792 ) are the principal hosts of the adult stage of the tick in Missouri ( Kollars et al. 2000). The type host and original locality of this species are not known ( Cooley 1938).