DIFFERENTIAL CAPACITY OF LARVAL DEER TICKS (IXODES-DAMMINI) TO IMBIBE WATER FROM SUBSATURATED AIR

To determine how the larval stage of Ixodes dammini, the deer tick that transmits the agent of Lyme disease in eastern North America, survives the relatively xeric environment in which eggs hatch, we compared the water-balance relationships of non-fed larvae to those of the non-fed nymphal and adult stages of this tick. In contrast to more mature deer ticks, larvae contain less water, tolerate the loss of less water and retain water less effectively. The ability of larvae to imbibe water from subsaturated air, however, adapts them to a relatively xeric environment.