G. Anastos.
Hosts of Certain New York Ticks.
Psyche 54:178-179, 1947.

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HOSTS OF CERTAIN NEW YORK TICKS
BY GEORGE ANASTOS
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University The records of ticks contained in this paper are based upon material collected by Mr. R. V. Nardy and Mr. William M. Machado under the general supervision of Dr. Donald L. Collins of the New York State Science Service.
The collection was made at the eastern end of Long Island, New York, from May 10, 1946, to September 9, 1946, at three stations : Montauk Point, Hither Hills State Park, and Hook Pond (East Hampton). It comprised 992 larvae, nymphs and adults, the following species being represented : Dermacentor variabilis (Say), Hmaphy- salis leporis-palustris (Packard), Ixodes cookei Packard, Ixodes dentatus Neumann, Ixodes muris Bishopp and Smith, and Ixodes scapularis Say.
The host distribution represented by this survey is ex- tensive and includes 17 species of birds and mammals. The ticks were taken mostly from trapped or shot ani- mals; only a few specimens were dragged from grass or taken off people. The host distribution is as follows : Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis (Linnaeus).-Ixodes murk (16 nymphs, 2 larvae off 6 birds).
Brown thrasher, Toxostoma rufum (Linnaeus) .-hodes murk (9 n. off 1 bird).
Eastern or American robin, Turdus migratorius migra- torius Linnaeus.-Ixodes muris (22 n. off 2 birds). Red-eyed towhee, Pipilo erytJirophtlzalmus erythroph- thalmus (Linnaeus.)-Ixodes muris (18 n., 9 1. off 2 birds).
Eastern song sparrow, Melospisa melodia m,ftIodia (Wil- son).-Ixodes muris (6 n., 1 l. off 3 birds). 1 Bequaert, J. C. 1946. The Ticks or Ixodoidea, of the Northeastern, United States and Eastern Canada.
Entomologies Americana, XXV, No. 2,
pp. 73-232.
178




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19471 Hosts of Certain New York Ticks 179 MAMMALS
Short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda aloga Bangs.- Dermacewtor variabilis (1 1. off 1 shrew) ; Ixodes wis (4 n., 9 1. off 6 shrews).
Long-tailed shrew, Sores parvus (Say) (= cinereus True).-Dermacentor variabilis (1 1. off 1 shrew) ; Ixodes muris (6 1. off 1 shrew).
Raccoon, Procyow. lotor lotor (Linn~eus) .-Ixodes muris (1 n. off 1 raccoon).
Skunk, Mephitis nigra (Peale and Beauvois) .-Derma- centor variabilis (1 male, 3 females off 1 skunk); Ixodes mris (69 n. off 1 skunk).
Red fox, Vulpes fulva (Desmarest) .-Ixodes cookei (5 n. off 1 fox) ; Ixodes muris (29 n., 1 1. off 1 fox). Man (accidental host) .-Ixodes muris (1 n., 1 1.) ; Ixodes scapularis (1 female).
Chipmunk, Tamias striatus lyst eri (Richardson) .- Ixodes murk (54 n. off 2 chipmunks).
Gray squirrel, Sciwus carolhensis carolmensis (Gmelin). Dermacewtor variabilis (1 n. off 1 squirrel) ; Ixodes muris (125 n., 4 1. off 4 squirrels).
White-footed or deer mouse, Peromyscus leucopus fusus Bangs.-Dermacentor variabilis (17 n., 29 1. off 22 mice) ; Ixodes muris (138 n., 105 1. off 33 mice). Meadow mouse, field mouse, or vole, Microtus pewsyl- vanicus pennsylvahcus (0rd.)-Dermacentor varia- bilis (6 n., 3 1. off 9 mice) ; Ixodes muris (5 females, 15 n., 12 1. off 10 mice).
Eastern cottontail rabbit, Sylvilagus floridamus mearnsi (Allen) .-Derrnacent or variabilis (1 male, 2 females, 1 n. off 3 rabbits) ; Hcemaphysalis leporis palustris (42 males, 18 females, 13 n., 14 1. off 9 rabbits) ; Ixodes dentatus (9 males, 12 females, 15 n., 2 1. off 8 rabbits) ; Ixodes muris (66 n., 34 1. off 7 rabbits). Virginia deer, Odocoileus virginiawus borealis (Miller). -Ixodes muris (18 n. off 1 deer).
Dragged from the grass.-Dermacentor variabilis (1 fe- male) ; Ixodes scapularis (10 males, 4 females) . During this survey Ixodes rnuris has been observed and recorded for the first time from the long-tailed shrew,



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180 Psyche I sept.
gray squirrel, Eastern cottontail rabbit, red fox, chip- munk, raccoon, skunk, Virginia deer, red-eyed towhee, catbird, Eastern or American robin, and brown thrasher. This makes twelve new hosts for the larval and nymphal forms of Ixodes muris Bishopp and Smith. Also re- corded for the first time was the larval form of Derrna- centor variabilis (Say) from the long-tailed shrew. This represents the first record of any species of tick taken from the long-tailed shrew in the Northeastern United States.
All identifications recorded for the first time were verified by Dr. Joseph 0. Bequaert, Curator of Insects, Museum of Comparative Zoology, to whom the writer is indebted for his kind and valuable assistance. During May, 1945, species of this family were found swarming in the small, crowded, woody fungi on standing dead and fallen trees and also stumps. There were many of what appears to be Sulcacis lengi Dury, Cis fuscipes Mellie, Ennearthron thoracicorne Zieg., Octoternnus lawis Csy., and Sphindus americanus Lee.
They had about all
disappeared by the end of June in Mass. About the same species and under the same conditions were found at Paris, Me., with the addition of Eurysphindus denticollis Lee., which occurred in a flat, brown fungus of a soft smut-like consistency on a partly uprooted poplar in the woods. This has been taken before on the same species of fungus on the top of a stump at Monmouth, Me., June 27, 1912.-C. A. FROST.




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