Seasonality and Distribution of Immature Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae) in Mississippi, USA: A Review and New Records

ORCID

Goddard: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2617-7141

MSU Affiliation

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology

Creation Date

2026-09-30

Abstract

The Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum Koch), a known vector of medical and veterinary concern, is well established in Mississippi. Although seasonality and distribution patterns of this species of adults have been documented, those of immatures (larvae and nymphs) have not. In this study, a review of literature was combined with new and unpublished data to identify trends in immature A. maculatum activity. Compiled data from dates ranging from 1920-2014 consisted of 2,368 total specimens of A. maculatum collected in Mississippi, some published and some not. Of those, 2,295 (96.92%) were adults while only 27 (1.14%) were nymphs and 46 (1.94%) were larvae. Only four larval collections have been recorded (one each in June and November and two in October). Seventeen nymphal collections were recorded with peaks in March and August, roughly corresponding to the bimodal distribution observed in larval records. This bimodal distribution suggests that there may be two cohorts of A. maculatum per year or that immatures go through a stage of inactivity during periods of both winter and summer months. As expected, these data show that nymphs were collected earliest in the southern portions of Mississippi but, unexpectedly, adults were collected even earlier further north. Surprisingly, it was noted that larvae were collected progressively later in the year further south.

Keywords

Amblyomma maculatum, distribution records, immatures, Mississippi, seasonality

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

Journal of Entomological Science

Publisher

Georgia Entomological Society

First Page

1

Last Page

8

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.18474/jes15-04.1