Populations of the blacklegged tick on several geographically isolated sites or islands in southern New England with abundant white-tailed deer are parasitized by the chalcid wasp Ixodiphagus hookeri. Deer densities were reduced at forested tracts in Bridgeport and Groton, Connecticut from over 90 to 10-17 animals per square kilometer over an 8-10 year period. Tick densities declined with sustained reductions in the population of white-tailed deer. Similarly, prevalence of tick parasitism by the wasp declined at both sites from 25 and 32% to less than 1.0%. Wasp parasitism was highly correlated with deer density. There appears to be a threshold deer and corresponding tick density necessary for successful parasitism by I. hookeri.
Species 1: Acari Ixodidae Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick)
Species 2: Hymenoptera Encyrtidae Ixodiphagus hookeri
Keywords: tick, parasitoid
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