• Ticks life stages/cycle includes eggs, larva (6 legs), nymph (8 legs), and adults (8 legs). A blood meal on a vertebrate host is needed to develop to the next stage.  

• Initial survey done over spring break during dry season, March 2017.

• Found more nymphs in uplands during dry season, all adults were found in the arroyos.

• How will the distribution of ticks change during the rainy season?

• What kind of tick species will be found during the rainy season?

Methods

• Sampled ticks in uplands and arroyos by dragging a felt sheet along vegetation in the forest.
• Each collection covered 400 meters of trail.
• Collection sheets were then stored in ziplock plastic bag and examined for ticks back at EBCh.

Results

• All adult ticks found either through dragging or on local animals were Amblyomma cajennense (Cayenne tick).
• All larval and nymphs were consistant with A. cajennense, but cannot be positively identified visually.
• Most of the ticks were found in the Arroyos, but one large congregation (208 individuals) of larval (newly hatched) ticks was found during one sampling event in the uplands.