Terry D. Galloway

Ixodes scapularis Ticks Collected by Passive Surveillance in Canada: Analysis of Geographic Distribution and Infection with Lyme Borreliosis Agent Borrelia burgdorferi

Abstract Passive surveillance for the occurrence of the tick Ixodes scapularis Say (1821) and their infection with the Lyme borreliosis spirochaetes Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. has taken place in Canada since early 1990. Ticks have been submitted from members of the public, veterinarians, and medical practitioners to provincial, federal, and university laboratories for identification, and the data have been collated and B. burgdorferi detected at the National Microbiology Laboratory. The locations of collection of 2,319 submitted I. scapularis were mapped, and we investigated potential risk factors for I. scapularis occurrence (in Québec as a case study) by using regression analysis and spatial statistics. Ticks were submitted from all provinces east of Alberta, most from areas where resident I. scapularis populations are unknown. Most were adult ticks and were collected in spring and autumn. In southern Québec, risk factors for tick occurrence were lower latitude and remote-sensed indices for land cover with woodland. B. burgdorferi infection, identified by conventional and molecular methods, was detected in 12.5% of 1,816 ticks, including 10.1% of the 256 ticks that were collected from humans and tested. Our study suggests that B. burgdorferi-infected I. scapularis can be found over a wide geographic range in Canada, although most may be adventitious ticks carried from endemic areas in the United States and Canada by migrating birds. The risk of Lyme borreliosis in Canada may therefore be mostly low but more geographically widespread than previously suspected.

Range Expansion of Dermacentor variabilis and Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) Near their Northern Distributional Limits

ABSTRACT Distributional ranges of the ticks Dermacentor andersoni Stiles and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) in the Canadian Prairies were determined by passive surveillance and active collection. These findings were compared with historical records of both species, particularly in the province of Saskatchewan, where the northern distributional limits of both tick species occur. Before the 1960s, D. variabilis and D. andersoni were allopatric in Saskatchewan; however, since then, the distribution of D. variabilis has expanded westward and northward. Although the range of D. andersoni has remained relatively stable, range expansion of D. variabilis has resulted in a zone of sympatry at least 200 km wide. Twenty-nine species of mammals and three species of birds were identified as hosts for different life stages of these ticks.

New Species and Records of Cheyletoid Mites (Acari: Cheyletoidea) from Birds in Canada

Abstract Four new species of cheyletoid mites (Acari: Cheyletoidea) are described from birds in Canada: Harpyrhynchoides vulgaris sp. nov. (Harpirhynchidae) from Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus (Passeriformes: Fringillidae) and American Redstart, Setophaga ruticilla (Passeriformes: Parulidae); Syringophilopsis porzanae sp. nov. (Syringophilidae) from Sora, Porzana carolina (Gruiformes: Rallidae); Syringophilopsis tyrrani sp. nov. from Eastern Kingbird, Tyrranus tyrranus (Passeriformes: Tyrranidae); Niglarobia skorackii sp. nov. (Syringophilidae) from Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae). Harpyrhynchoides zumpti Fain, 1972 is recorded from Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis (Passeriformes: Emberizidae), for the first time. A key to species for females of the genus Syringophilopsis and a table of their associated hosts are provided.

Survey of nasal mites (Rhinonyssidae, Ereynetidae, and Turbinoptidae) associated with birds in Alberta and Manitoba, Canada

Three major lineages of mites (Arachnida: Acari) are parasitic in the nasal passages of birds: Rhinonyssidae (Mesostigmata), Ereynetidae (Prostigmata), Cytoditidae, and Turbinoptidae (Astigmata). The most diverse group of avian nasal mites is the Rhinonyssidae, which are obligate endoparasites of non-ratite birds worldwide. Prior to this study, there were only four published and three unpublished records of nasal mites from birds in Canada. In Alberta, 15% of 450 birds (154 species) examined during 2003–2007 were infested with nasal mites; in Manitoba, 16% of 2447 birds (196 species) examined during 1996–2006 were infested. We have expanded the known records of host – nasal mite species in Canada from 7 to 102, a 14-fold increase. There are now 50 species of Rhinonyssidae, 7 species of Ereynetidae, and 1 species of Turbinoptidae known from birds in Alberta and Manitoba. We predict that at least 70 species of rhinonyssid mites can be found in Canada.

Serendipity with chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae, Philopteridae) infesting rock pigeons and mourning doves (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae) in Manitoba, with new records for North America and Canada

An extensive survey of chewing lice from rock pigeon, Columba livia Gmelin, and mourning dove, Zenaida macroura (L.), carried out from 1994 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2006 in Manitoba, Canada, produced the following new records: Coloceras tovornikae Tendeiro for North America; Columbicola macrourae (Wilson), Hohorstiella lata (Piaget), H. paladinella Hill and Tuff, and Physconelloides zenaidurae (McGregor) for Canada; and Bonomiella columbae Emerson, Campanulotes compar (Burmeister), Columbicola baculoides (Paine), and C. columbae (L.) for Manitoba. We collected 25 418 lice of four species (C. compar, C. columbae, H. lata, and C. tovornikae) from 322 rock pigeons. The overall prevalence of infestation was 78.9%, 52.5%, and 23.3% for C. compar, C. columbae, and H. lata, respectively. Coloceras tovornikae was not discovered until 2003, after which its prevalence was 39.9% on 114 pigeons. We collected 1116 lice of five species (P. zenaidurae, C. baculoides, C. macrourae, H. paladinella, and B. columbae) from 1...

Ectoparasites of northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis (Procellariiformes: Procellariidae) from the Canadian Arctic

We studied the prevalence and intensity of infestation of ectoparasites on northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis L.) from a breeding colony in Arctic Canada in June–August 2003. No fleas or ticks were found on any fulmars, but three species of chewing lice (Phthiraptera) were recorded: Ischnocera: Perineus nigrolimbatus (Giebel 1874), Ischnocera: Saemundssonia occidentalis (Kellogg 1896), and Amblycera: Ancistrona vagelli (Fabricius 1787). Non-breeding birds had a higher prevalence of lice than breeding birds, and prevalence varied markedly among louse species. Our study is an important baseline for the occurrence of ectoparasites on northern fulmars in the high Arctic, a region undergoing extensive environmental change due to global warming, and an area where parasites are expected to extend ranges or increase in prevalence under changing annual temperature regimes.

Interaction of parasitic nematode Parasitaphelenchus oldhami (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) and a bacterium in Dutch elm disease vector, Hylurgopinus rufipes (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Abstract The bark beetle, Hylurgopinus rufipes, an important Dutch elm disease vector, was infected with a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium observed in all stages of the hosts development. Large aggregations of this apparently innocuous bacterium were found in the fat body, the cytoplasm of the tropharia of the ovaries, and later in the developing eggs. Bacterial cells were localized in isolated pockets in the tissues. An apparent synergistic effect of a concurrent infection by the bacterium and the nematode, Parasitaphelenchus oldhami, led to the rupture of cell membranes by the nematodes and dispersal of bacteria throughout the hemocoel. Subsequent depletion of the fat body tissue in the host was rapid. Juvenile (L3) P. oldhami invaded teneral adults and developed rapidly during the first 5–6 days. A substantial decrease in the prevalence and intensity of nematode infection in adult H. rufipes was observed prior to and during hibernation.

New records and new species of mites of the subfamily Harpirhynchinae (Acariformes: Harpirhynchidae) infesting birds in Manitoba, Canada

Five new species and one new genus of the subfamily Harpirhynchinae (Acariformes: Harpirhynchidae) are described from birds in Canada: Harpyrhynchoides heatherae sp. nov. from Junco hyemalis (Passeriformes: Emberizidae), H. botaurus sp. nov. from Botaurus lentiginosus (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae), H. phalaropus sp. nov. from Phalaropus lobatus (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae), Neharpyrhynchus loxia sp. nov. from Loxia curvirostra (Passeriformes: Fringillidae), and Fainharpirhynchus contopus gen. nov., sp. nov. from Contopus cooperi (Passeriformes: Tyrannidae). Additionally, 3 species were recorded in Canada (Manitoba) for the first time: Harpyrhynchoides tracheatus (Fritsch, 1954) from Buteo jamaicensis (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) (new host), H. modestus (Fain, 1976) from Columba livia (Columbiformes: Columbidae) (new host), and Neharpyrhynchus pilirostris (Berlese et Trouessart, 1889) from Passer domesticus (Passeriformes: Passeridae).

Descriptions of flea larvae (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae, Leptopsyllidae) found in nests of the House Martin, Delichon urbica (Aves: Hirundinidae), in Great Britain

Descriptions are provided for the larvae of five species of fleas which parasitize the House Martin, Delichon urbica, in Great Britain. There are three species of Ceratophyllus, separated, among other characters, on the basis of an anterior comb row consisting of two setae per side (Ceratophyllus hirundinis), and on the relative lengths and thicknesses of ventral setae on the second and third thoracic segments (long and slender in Ce. rusticus, while shorter and stout in Ce. farreni farreni). The larva of Callopsylla waterstoni has more teeth on the mandible (6–13) than are present in the Ceratophyllus spp. examined here, and is unusual in the presence of two ventral setae on each of the ventral plates on the ninth abdominal segment. Frontopsylla laeta (Leptopsyllidae) is easily separable from the four ceratophyllids by its mandibles, each bearing three or four large, coarse teeth and by the position of the parietal setae on the head capsule, a unique arrangement as far as is known: one pair of minute parietals is located anteriorly along the frontal sutures, while the other two pairs are close together near the front of the coronal suture, which is itself much longer than is evident in ceratophyllid larvae. Descriptions for four of the five taxa are provided for the first time. A key is provided to identify larvae found in the nests of House Martins in Great Britain, including Ce. gallinae.

Ability of Unfed Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) to Survive a Second Winter as Adults in Manitoba, Canada, Near the Northern Limit of Their Range.

ABSTRACT One thousand seven hundred unfed field-collected adult Dermacentor variabilis (Say) were overwintered in 34 outdoor enclosures near the northern limit of their distribution in Manitoba, Canada. At the northern limits of the range of D. variabilis, it had always been assumed that unfed adult ticks questing in spring succumbed before the next winter and were not part of the population observed in the following year. Survival of the collected ticks was assessed on two occasions. In midwinter, an average 39.4% (SE ± 2.50) of the ticks were still alive, while an average 19.9% (SE ± 1.14) survived to April. Female ticks had significantly higher survivorship than males. The ability to survive an additional winter allows ticks to act in a greater capacity as reservoirs for tick-associated pathogens in this region.