Ixodes sculptus Neumann

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

Ixodes sculptus Neumann

Type host: unknown.

Deposition, host records, and locality: HWML 92017 , G. lutescens /Ackley 2013 ; HWML 92031 , 92036 , 101735 , 101745 , and 101747, G. lutescens /Ackley 2013 ; HWML 92038 and 92039, G. lutescens / Ackley 2013 ; HWML 92053 , G. lutescens / Ackley 2013 .

Remarks: This tick is most commonly associated with burrowing mammals, especially ground squirrels, and their predators throughout the central and western United States and Canada ( Miller and Ward 1960; Spicka 1981; Brillhart et al. 1994; Salkeld et al. 2006). Keirans and Clifford (1978) note its presence in Nebraska, and at Ackley Valley a single adult female and 45 larvae were collected from four G. lutescens . Salkeld et al. 2006 examined the host associations of I. sculptus among the small mammals of a prairie community in northern Colorado, about 200 miles west of CPBS. Although they report I. sculptus from four species of semi-fossorial rodents, they were collecting with Sherman live traps and did not sample gophers. However, Miller and Ward (1960) collected this tick from both Geomys and Thomomys in Colorado. Salkeld et al. 2006 summarized the published records of I. sculptus , revealing a very wide host range, including humans and their domestic animals, rodents, lagomorphs, and many carnivores. Because of its broad host-range, the potential role of I. sculptus as a vector of enzootic diseases is very high ( Salkeld et al. 2006). The type host and original locality of this species are not known ( Keirans and Clifford 1978).