New Michigan tick (acari: Ixodidae) and flea (siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) records from colonial nesting birds

Abstract

Banding and censusing large numbers of gull chicks over a 30-year period on Great Lakes islands has produced a collection of five individual ticks from two Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) chicks. The tick species, Hemaphysalis leporispalustris, found on the gulls is commonly found on Snowshoe Hares (Lepus americanus). Although this represents an apparently uncommon record on Herring Gulls, this host could be an important source of aerial vector dispersal during regular cyclic hare/tick population peaks. Populations of the flea, Ceratophyllus lari, have increased rapidly in ground nesting Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) colonies from none 16 years ago. The possibilities of disease transmission by both of these hematophagus ectoparasites are assessed with evidence from the literature. The tick and flea distributions reported here are new host records, and the flea is a new species record for Michigan.