Variable Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. (Acari: Ixodidae) Development

Abstract

Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. (Latreille, 1806) can establish populations in residences and may lead to severe domestic and peridomestic infestations. Detection in the early infestation stage is challenging because of their small body size and the lack of visibility when ticks stay in sheltered refugia. The residents may believe that the infestation has been eliminated when no ticks are observed until ticks reappear when seeking hosts. Thus, it is necessary to improve our understanding of tick phenology to achieve more effective infestation management. In this study, the relationships between environmental conditions and tick development were explored in laboratory and using linear and nonlinear models. Three R. sanguineus s.l. strains, from one colony of the temperate lineage and two of the tropical lineage, were evaluated for the development of all life stages and conversion efficiency index (CEI) under five temperatures and four relative humidities (RHs). The development times differed between the three tick strains across stages and were primarily dependent on temperature. The CEIs had little variance explained by temperature, RH, or strains. Compared with the linear and exponential models with temperature as the only variable, the Brière-1 model was the best approximating model for most of the developmental rates. The developmental temperature thresholds for R. sanguineus s.l. development estimated by the Brière-1 model varied inconsistently across strains and life stages. We developed a more predictive relationship between environmental factors and R. sanguineus s.l. development, which can be utilized to predict tick development using temperature and develop appropriate control strategies.