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<record><TEI><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title xml:lang="en">Attachment site selection of ticks on roe deer, <italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic></title><author><name sortKey="Kiffner, C" sort="Kiffner, C" uniqKey="Kiffner C" first="C." last="Kiffner">C. Kiffner</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Lodige, C" sort="Lodige, C" uniqKey="Lodige C" first="C." last="Lödige">C. Lödige</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Alings, M" sort="Alings, M" uniqKey="Alings M" first="M." last="Alings">M. Alings</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Vor, T" sort="Vor, T" uniqKey="Vor T" first="T." last="Vor">T. Vor</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Ruhe, F" sort="Ruhe, F" uniqKey="Ruhe F" first="F." last="Rühe">F. Rühe</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author></titleStmt><publicationStmt><idno type="wicri:source">PMC</idno><idno type="pmid">20585837</idno><idno type="pmc">2992130</idno><idno type="url">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2992130</idno><idno type="RBID">PMC:2992130</idno><idno type="doi">10.1007/s10493-010-9378-4</idno><date when="2010">2010</date><idno type="wicri:Area/Pmc/Corpus">000073</idno><idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="Pmc" wicri:step="Corpus" wicri:corpus="PMC">000073</idno></publicationStmt><sourceDesc><biblStruct><analytic><title xml:lang="en" level="a" type="main">Attachment site selection of ticks on roe deer, <italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic></title><author><name sortKey="Kiffner, C" sort="Kiffner, C" uniqKey="Kiffner C" first="C." last="Kiffner">C. Kiffner</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Lodige, C" sort="Lodige, C" uniqKey="Lodige C" first="C." last="Lödige">C. Lödige</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Alings, M" sort="Alings, M" uniqKey="Alings M" first="M." last="Alings">M. Alings</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Vor, T" sort="Vor, T" uniqKey="Vor T" first="T." last="Vor">T. Vor</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author><author><name sortKey="Ruhe, F" sort="Ruhe, F" uniqKey="Ruhe F" first="F." last="Rühe">F. Rühe</name><affiliation><nlm:aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</nlm:aff></affiliation></author></analytic><series><title level="j">Experimental & Applied Acarology</title><idno type="ISSN">0168-8162</idno><idno type="eISSN">1572-9702</idno><imprint><date when="2010">2010</date></imprint></series></biblStruct></sourceDesc></fileDesc><profileDesc><textClass></textClass></profileDesc></teiHeader><front><div type="abstract" xml:lang="en"><p>The spatio-temporal attachment site patterns of ticks feeding on their hosts can be of significance if co-feeding transmission (i.e. from tick to tick without a systemic infection of the host) of pathogens affects the persistence of a given disease. Using tick infestation data on roe deer, we analysed preferred attachment sites and niche width of <italic>Ixodes</italic> ticks (larvae, nymphs, males, females) and investigated the degree of inter- and intrastadial aggregation. The different development stages showed rather consistent attachment site patterns and relative narrow feeding site niches. Larvae were mostly found on the head and on the front legs of roe deer, nymphs reached highest densities on the head and highest adult densities were found on the neck of roe deer. The tick stages feeding (larvae, nymphs, females) on roe deer showed high degrees of intrastadial spatial aggregation, whereas males did not. Male ticks showed large feeding site overlap with female ticks. Feeding site overlap between larval-female and larval-nymphal ticks did occur especially during the months May–August on the head and front legs of roe deer and might allow pathogen transmission <italic>via</italic> co-feeding. Tick density, niche width and niche overlap on roe deer are mainly affected by seasonality, reflecting seasonal activity and abundance patterns of ticks. Since different tick development stages occur spatially and temporally clustered on roe deer, transmission experiments of tick-borne pathogens are urgently needed.</p></div></front><back><div1 type="bibliography"><listBibl><biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Barnard, Dr" uniqKey="Barnard D">DR Barnard</name></author><author><name sortKey="Morrison, Rd" uniqKey="Morrison R">RD Morrison</name></author></analytic></biblStruct><biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Barnard, Dr" uniqKey="Barnard D">DR Barnard</name></author><author><name sortKey="Morrsion, Rd" uniqKey="Morrsion R">RD Morrsion</name></author><author><name sortKey="Ervin, T" uniqKey="Ervin T">T Ervin</name></author></analytic></biblStruct><biblStruct><analytic><author><name sortKey="Bloemer, Sr" uniqKey="Bloemer S">SR Bloemer</name></author><author><name sortKey="Zimmermann, Rh" uniqKey="Zimmermann R">RH Zimmermann</name></author><author><name sortKey="Fairbanks, K" uniqKey="Fairbanks K">K 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<front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="nlm-ta">Exp Appl Acarol</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Experimental & Applied Acarology</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="ppub">0168-8162</issn><issn pub-type="epub">1572-9702</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Springer Netherlands</publisher-name><publisher-loc>Dordrecht</publisher-loc></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="pmid">20585837</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="pmc">2992130</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">9378</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1007/s10493-010-9378-4</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>Attachment site selection of ticks on roe deer, <italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic></article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><name><surname>Kiffner</surname><given-names>C.</given-names></name><address><phone>+49-551-393583</phone><fax>+49-551-3922089</fax><email>ckiffne@gwdg.de</email></address><xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff1"></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Lödige</surname><given-names>C.</given-names></name><address><email>christinaloedige@hotmail.com</email></address><xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff1"></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Alings</surname><given-names>M.</given-names></name><address><email>efrafa@web.de</email></address><xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff1"></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Vor</surname><given-names>T.</given-names></name><address><email>tvor@gwdg.de</email></address><xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff1"></xref></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name><surname>Rühe</surname><given-names>F.</given-names></name><address><email>fruehe@gwdg.de</email></address><xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff1"></xref></contrib><aff id="Aff1">Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany</aff></contrib-group><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>29</day><month>6</month><year>2010</year></pub-date><pub-date pub-type="pmc-release"><day>29</day><month>6</month><year>2010</year></pub-date><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>1</month><year>2011</year></pub-date><volume>53</volume><issue>1</issue><fpage>79</fpage><lpage>94</lpage><history><date date-type="received"><day>3</day><month>3</month><year>2010</year></date><date date-type="accepted"><day>10</day><month>6</month><year>2010</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement>© The Author(s) 2010</copyright-statement></permissions><abstract><p>The spatio-temporal attachment site patterns of ticks feeding on their hosts can be of significance if co-feeding transmission (i.e. from tick to tick without a systemic infection of the host) of pathogens affects the persistence of a given disease. Using tick infestation data on roe deer, we analysed preferred attachment sites and niche width of <italic>Ixodes</italic> ticks (larvae, nymphs, males, females) and investigated the degree of inter- and intrastadial aggregation. The different development stages showed rather consistent attachment site patterns and relative narrow feeding site niches. Larvae were mostly found on the head and on the front legs of roe deer, nymphs reached highest densities on the head and highest adult densities were found on the neck of roe deer. The tick stages feeding (larvae, nymphs, females) on roe deer showed high degrees of intrastadial spatial aggregation, whereas males did not. Male ticks showed large feeding site overlap with female ticks. Feeding site overlap between larval-female and larval-nymphal ticks did occur especially during the months May–August on the head and front legs of roe deer and might allow pathogen transmission <italic>via</italic> co-feeding. Tick density, niche width and niche overlap on roe deer are mainly affected by seasonality, reflecting seasonal activity and abundance patterns of ticks. Since different tick development stages occur spatially and temporally clustered on roe deer, transmission experiments of tick-borne pathogens are urgently needed.</p></abstract><kwd-group><title>Keywords</title><kwd>Co-feeding</kwd><kwd>Competition</kwd><kwd>Heterogeneity</kwd><kwd>Host-parasite interaction</kwd><kwd>Niche overlap</kwd><kwd>Reverse density-dependence</kwd><kwd>Tick-borne pathogens</kwd></kwd-group><custom-meta-group><custom-meta><meta-name>issue-copyright-statement</meta-name><meta-value>© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-group></article-meta></front><body><sec id="Sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>For several tick-host associations, it is well known that ticks apparently prefer certain feeding sites (e.g. Nelson et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR32">1975</xref>; Randolph <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR41">1975</xref>; Barnard and Morrison <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR1">1985</xref>; Bloemer et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR3">1988</xref>; Barnard et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR2">1989</xref>; Fourie and van Zyl <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR8">1991</xref>; Fourie et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR9">1991</xref>; L’Hostis et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR24">1994</xref>; Fourie and Kok <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR7">1995</xref>; Mathee et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR30">1997</xref>; Ogden et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR34">1998</xref>; Schmidtmann et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR46">1998</xref>).</p><p>In central Europe, roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) are probably the most important free-living host for adult ticks of the <italic>Ixodes</italic><italic>ricinus</italic> complex. Yet, only few studies have investigated patterns of tick infestation on roe deer (Matuschka et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR31">1993</xref>; Carpi et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR5">2008</xref>; Vor et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR49">2010</xref>; Kiffner et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR22">in press</xref>), and none of them explicitly investigated the spatio-temporal distribution of ticks on roe deer individuals. Knowledge about the most infested body parts is, however, crucial for designing acaricide-treated devices to control ticks feeding on deer, a control strategy that turned out to be effective in lowering densities of free-living ticks <italic>(Ixodes scapularis</italic> and <italic>Amblyoma americanum</italic>) in the north-eastern USA (e.g. Fish and Childs <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR6">2009</xref>; Pound et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR40">2009</xref>).</p><p>Besides having a direct effect on the host by inducing a considerable blood loss which might reduce overall fitness of the host (Pfäffle et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR38">2009</xref>), ticks of the <italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> complex are vectors of several bacterial (e.g. <italic>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</italic>, <italic>Borrelia burgdorferi</italic>, <italic>Rickettsia helvetica</italic>), protozoan (e.g. <italic>Babesia capreoli</italic>, <italic>Babesia divergens</italic>, <italic>Babesia venatorum</italic>) and viral (e.g. Louping-ill virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus) pathogens of medical and veterinary importance (Jongejan and Uilenberg <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR21">2004</xref>; Malandrin et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR29">2010</xref>). There is a growing body of evidence that, at large scales, numbers of infected ticks (tick-borne encephalitis virus: Hudson et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR16">2001</xref>) or numbers of human infections (<italic>Borrelia burgdorferi</italic>: Linard et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR28">2007</xref>; tick-borne encephalitis virus: Rizzoli et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR45">2009</xref>) are positively correlated with the density of roe deer. The interpretation of this correlation is, however, not unambiguous: Roe deer have been shown to amplify tick densities (e.g. Jensen et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR19">2000</xref>; Walker et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR50">2001</xref>), but considering the tick-borne pathogens of major human health importance such as <italic>Borrelia burgdorferi</italic> and tick-borne encephalitis virus, they are believed to be dead-end or dilution (Ostfeld and Keesing <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR35">2001</xref>) hosts. However, it is unclear whether roe deer and other ungulates do provide a platform for non-systemic pathogen transmission among co-feeding ticks (Randolph <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR42">2008</xref>; Jaenson and Tälleklint <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR18">1992</xref>; Matuschka et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR31">1993</xref>; Kimura et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR23">1995</xref>; Bruno et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR4">2000</xref>), but it can not be excluded as a possibility (e.g. Gern et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR12">1998</xref>). If co-feeding transmission does occur between ticks feeding on roe deer, intra- and interstadial aggregation of ticks may enhance co-feeding transmission and might therefore be of considerable interest for models aiming at quantifying basic reproduction numbers of tick-borne pathogens (e.g. Hartemink et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR14">2008</xref>).</p><p>In this paper, we aimed at estimating the preferred feeding sites and tested the ideal free distribution hypothesis at the host level (Fretwell and Lucas <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR10">1970</xref>), i.e. we investigated whether feeding site selection by ticks is density dependent. This hypothesis predicts that most animals (here ticks) should be found in preferred habitats (in the tick-host context: preferred body parts) and spill over to less preferred habitats when animal density is high (Sutherland <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR48">1996</xref>). Further on, we aimed at estimating the niche width (i.e. the range of feeding sites) of the different life stages (larvae, nymphs, adults) and sexes (female, male) feeding on roe deer and investigated the degree of niche overlap between different stages/sexes. Ultimately, we investigated whether indices of niche width and overlap are seasonal and whether they depend on the size (body mass) of the host.</p></sec><sec id="Sec2" sec-type="materials|methods"><title>Materials and methods</title><sec id="Sec3"><title>Tick sampling</title><p>We opportunistically sampled 80 hunter-killed roe deer from forests around the city of Göttingen (centred at, 51°32′2″N, 9°56′8″, radius of ca. 20 km) in central Germany during regular hunting activities. The study area is dominated by mixed deciduous forests comprising mainly of European beech (<italic>Fagus sylvatica)</italic>, Norway maple (<italic>Acer pseudoplatanus)</italic>, European ash (<italic>Fraxinus excelsior)</italic> and sessile oak (<italic>Quercus petraea)</italic>. The geology of the region is characterized by shallow limestone plateaus with rendzina soils and haplic luvisols, whereas some forest stands grow on sandstone with sandy and loamy cambisols. The altitude above sea level ranges from 151 to 400 m, the mean annual rainfall is 780 mm, and the average annual temperature is 7.8°C (Petritian et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR37">2007</xref>). Data collection was stratified into 6 distinct sampling seasons: November–December 2007, <italic>n</italic> = 20; May–June 2008, <italic>n</italic> = 18; July–August 2008, <italic>n</italic> = 12; November–December 2008, <italic>n</italic> = 14, May–June 2009, <italic>n</italic> = 10 and July–August 2009, <italic>n</italic> = 6. Roe deer carcasses were disembowelled by the hunters and stored in cooling chambers at 2–8°C until examination. Within 16 h on average (SE: ±2.5 h) after roe deer individuals had been shot, each carcass was examined by two observers wearing latex gloves. The carcass was divided into 6 distinct parts (head, neck, sternum & abdomen, rest of the body, front legs and hind legs, Fig. <xref rid="Fig1" ref-type="fig">1</xref>). The roe deer skin was systematically inspected and palpated to detect all ticks. Sites heavily infested were consecutively searched and palpated by both persons. All ticks were removed from each body part with forceps. These ticks were immediately counted and recorded according to life stage and sex (larvae, nymphs, males and females). Finally, they were transferred to sampling tubes and stored at −20°C. All removed ticks belong to the <italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> complex; for a more detailed description of the study site and the tick collection see Kiffner et al. (in press). In order to relate the number of ticks to the surface area of each body part, we estimated the surface area of body parts of six roe deer individuals (3 individuals <2 year, 3 individuals >2 years) using basic geometric measurements. Since the absolute surface areas varied considerably among individuals, we used proportional data (Table <xref rid="Tab1" ref-type="table">1</xref>) and allocated these relative measurements to each investigated roe deer individual.<fig id="Fig1"><label>Fig. 1</label><caption><p>Sketch outline of the tick collection sites on a roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) buck. Drawing: W. Tambour, J. Seelig</p></caption><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Fig1_HTML" id="MO1"></graphic></fig><table-wrap id="Tab1"><label>Table 1</label><caption><p>Mean proportional surface area (±SE) of roe deer body parts</p></caption><table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"></th><th align="left">Head</th><th align="left">Neck</th><th align="left">Sternum & Abdomen</th><th align="left">Rest of the body</th><th align="left">Front legs</th><th align="left">Hind legs</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left">>2 years</td><td char="(" align="char">0.12 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.06 (±0.00)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.08 (±0.00)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.33 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.17 (±0.02)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.25 (±0.01)</td></tr><tr><td align="left"><2 years</td><td char="(" align="char">0.12 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.05 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.10 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.28 (±0.02)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.20 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.26 (±0.02)</td></tr></tbody></table><table-wrap-foot><p>Sample size for each age class is <italic>n</italic> = 3. For a delineation of the body parts, see Fig. <xref rid="Fig1" ref-type="fig">1</xref></p></table-wrap-foot></table-wrap></p></sec><sec id="Sec4"><title>Data analysis</title><p>We analysed the relative tick density (i.e. number of ticks of each stage or sex/relative surface area) of each body part with the nonparametric Friedman test in order to provide a density ranking of the body parts infested by ticks. We also analysed whether the relative use of the preferred attachment site varied as a function of the abundance of the considered tick life stage/sex.</p><p>To investigate the feeding site specialisation of each tick stage/sex, we calculated Levins index of niche breadth, using each body part as a resource state.<disp-formula id="Equa"><alternatives><tex-math id="M1">\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$ B = {\frac{1}{{\sum {p_{j}^{2} } }}} $$\end{document}</tex-math><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Article_Equa.gif" position="anchor"></graphic></alternatives></disp-formula>where <italic>B</italic> is the index of niche breadth, <italic>p</italic><sub><italic>j</italic></sub> is the proportion of ticks collected from body part <italic>j</italic> (Levins <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR27">1968</xref>). Since <italic>B</italic> does not follow a normal distribution (B reaches a maximum value if ticks of one life stage/sex were distributed homogenously on all body parts and reaches a minimum value if all ticks of this life stage/sex were concentrated on one body part), we standardised <italic>B</italic> to <italic>B</italic><sub><italic>S</italic></sub> using the formula:<disp-formula id="Equb"><alternatives><tex-math id="M2">\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$ B_{S} = {\frac{B - 1}{n - 1}} $$\end{document}</tex-math><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Article_Equb.gif" position="anchor"></graphic></alternatives></disp-formula>where <italic>n</italic> is the number of body parts (Hurlbert <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR17">1978</xref>). This standardised index ranges from 0 to 1 (wide niche). Cases with a zero-count of a specific tick life stage/sex were omitted. Using generalised linear models, we tested whether <italic>B</italic><sub><italic>S</italic></sub> varied with sampling season and with body mass (mass of disembowelled body with head in kg) of the host individual.</p><p>In order to investigate the overlap in site selection among the different tick life stages and sexes, we calculated a niche overlap index for all tick life stage/sex combinations following Pianka (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR39">1973</xref>).<disp-formula id="Equc"><alternatives><tex-math id="M3">\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$ O_{xy} = {\frac{{\sum\nolimits_{n} {p_{jx} \times p_{jy} } }}{{\sqrt {\sum {p_{jx}^{2} \times \sum {p_{jy}^{2} } } } }}} $$\end{document}</tex-math><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Article_Equc.gif" position="anchor"></graphic></alternatives></disp-formula>where <italic>O</italic><sub><italic>xy</italic></sub> is the index of niche overlap between tick life stage/sex <italic>x</italic> and tick life stage/sex <italic>y</italic>, <italic>p</italic><sub><italic>jx</italic></sub> the proportional relative density of tick life stage/sex <italic>x</italic> on body part <italic>j</italic> (relative density of this life stage/sex on body part <italic>j</italic> divided by the total number of this life stage/sex on the entire roe deer), <italic>p</italic><sub><italic>jy</italic></sub> the proportional relative density of tick life stage/sex <italic>y</italic> on body part <italic>j</italic> and n the number of body parts (i.e. 6). This index is a symmetrical measure, ranging from 0 (no body parts used in common) to 1 (complete overlap in body part selection). Roe deer individuals with a zero-count of a specific tick life stage/sex were treated as 0 (i.e. no overlap in resource use).</p><p>Analogously to the analyses of <italic>B</italic><sub><italic>S</italic></sub>, we ran generalised linear models to test whether <italic>O</italic><sub><italic>xy</italic></sub> is affected by sampling season and host body mass. All calculations were performed for the entire study period and for the 6 distinct sampling seasons. Indices of niche breadth and niche overlap were calculated with <italic>Microsoft Excel</italic>, statistical tests were performed with <italic>R</italic> (R Development core team) and <italic>SPSS 17.0</italic> (SPSS Inc.).</p></sec></sec><sec id="Sec5"><title>Results</title><sec id="Sec6"><title>Preferred attachment sites</title><p>Larvae showed a slightly inconsistent pattern of feeding site selection (Table <xref rid="Tab2" ref-type="table">2</xref>, Fig. <xref rid="Fig2" ref-type="fig">2</xref>) across the study period. In two sampling seasons (November–December 2008, May–June 2009), we found no significant (Friedman test <italic>P</italic> > 0.05) density differences among body parts, and during one sampling period we found no larvae at all (November–December 2007). For the remaining sampling periods, the results of the Friedman test indicate significant (all <italic>P</italic> < 0.05), but differing density rankings. In May–June 2008 and July–August 2008, the front legs showed the highest larvae density, followed by the head, whereas during the season July–August 2009, larvae density was highest on the head, followed by the front legs.<table-wrap id="Tab2"><label>Table 2</label><caption><p>Ranking (Friedman test) of tick densities on different roe deer body parts (Rest = Rest of the body, St. & Ab. = Sternum & Abdomen) by sampling period and for the entire study period</p></caption><table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" colspan="2">Nov.–Dec. 2007</th><th align="left" colspan="2">May–June 2008</th><th align="left" colspan="2">July-Aug. 2008</th><th align="left" colspan="2">Nov.–Dec. 2008</th><th align="left" colspan="2">May–June 2009</th><th align="left" colspan="2">July–Aug. 2009</th><th align="left" colspan="2">Study period</th></tr><tr><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th><th align="left">Body part</th><th align="left">Mean rank</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" colspan="14"><italic>Larvae</italic></td></tr><tr><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.86</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.67</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.68</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">4.30</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">4.83</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.05</td></tr><tr><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.56</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.63</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">4.05</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.17</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.76</td></tr><tr><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.31</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.70</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.83</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td></tr><tr><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.22</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.08</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.45</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.17</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.36</td></tr><tr><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.17</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">3.08</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.85</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.50</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.23</td></tr><tr><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">–</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.89</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.08</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.46</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.65</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.50</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">3.14</td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="14"><italic>Nymphs</italic></td></tr><tr><td align="left">Head</td><td align="left">4.35</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.89</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.92</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.64</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.70</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.58</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.42</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Front legs</td><td align="left">3.45</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.47</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.33</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.21</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">4.55</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.83</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.78</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Neck</td><td align="left">3.30</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.39</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.04</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.04</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.25</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.50</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.36</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Rest</td><td align="left">3.30</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.72</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.00</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">3.04</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.25</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.08</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.03</td></tr><tr><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td align="left">3.30</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.58</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">2.71</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.04</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.65</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.83</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.97</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td align="left">3.30</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.94</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.00</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.04</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.60</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.17</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.46</td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="14"><italic>Males</italic></td></tr><tr><td align="left">Front legs</td><td align="left">3.75</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">4.75</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.67</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.64</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">6.00</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.50</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">4.58</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Head</td><td align="left">3.45</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.92</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.96</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.64</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.00</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.17</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.99</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Neck</td><td align="left">3.45</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.56</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.21</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">3.43</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.80</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.08</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.29</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Rest</td><td align="left">3.45</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.22</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.04</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.43</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.65</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.92</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.24</td></tr><tr><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td align="left">3.45</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.81</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.63</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.43</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.55</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.58</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.06</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td align="left">3.45</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.75</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.50</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.43</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.00</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.75</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.84</td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="14"><italic>Females</italic></td></tr><tr><td align="left">Front legs</td><td align="left">3.80</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.56</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.21</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.82</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">6.00</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">6.00</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">4.66</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td align="left">3.75</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.83</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">4.83</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">3.79</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">4.80</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">4.83</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">4.13</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Head</td><td align="left">3.68</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.61</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.50</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.61</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.20</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.33</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.53</td></tr><tr><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td align="left">3.38</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.39</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.29</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.50</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.00</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.92</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.39</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Neck</td><td align="left">3.20</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.83</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.67</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">3.14</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.00</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.25</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.94</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Rest</td><td align="left">3.20</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.78</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.50</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">3.14</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.00</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.67</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.35</td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="14"><italic>Ticks</italic></td></tr><tr><td align="left">Head</td><td align="left">4.53</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.72</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.25</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.57</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.60</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.67</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.22</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Front legs</td><td align="left">3.75</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.11</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">5.08</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.57</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.20</td><td align="left">Head</td><td char="." align="char">5.17</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">4.35</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td align="left">3.50</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.61</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">4.00</td><td align="left">Neck</td><td char="." align="char">3.18</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.20</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.67</td><td align="left">Front legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.65</td></tr><tr><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td align="left">3.18</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.75</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.83</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">3.11</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.60</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.83</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.95</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Neck</td><td align="left">3.03</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.47</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.50</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.79</td><td align="left">Hind legs</td><td char="." align="char">2.60</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.58</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.78</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Rest</td><td align="left">3.03</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.33</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.33</td><td align="left">St. & Ab.</td><td char="." align="char">2.79</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.80</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">1.08</td><td align="left">Rest</td><td char="." align="char">2.05</td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap><fig id="Fig2"><label>Fig. 2</label><caption><p>The seasonal pattern of mean relative density (number/proportional surface area of each body part) of (<bold>a</bold>) larvae, (<bold>b</bold>) nymphs, (<bold>c</bold>) male, (<bold>d</bold>) female and (<bold>e</bold>) all ticks (<italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> complex) attached to roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) from the forests of Göttingen, Germany. <italic>Note</italic> the different scales on the <italic>y</italic>-<italic>axes</italic></p></caption><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Fig2_HTML" id="MO5"></graphic></fig></p><p>Nymphs showed a clear pattern of attachment site selection, at least for the top-ranked body part. During all seasons, significantly highest densities of nymphs were observed on the roe deer’s head. The second highest density was usually observed on the front legs (except for May–June 2009: neck).</p><p>Male ticks also exhibited significant density differences between roe deer body parts, except for the winter months (<italic>P</italic> > 0.05). The highest male tick density was usually found on the roe deer’s neck, followed by its head. Similarly, female ticks reached highest densities on the neck, followed by the head. Again, except for the winter months, female densities were highly significantly different between the distinct body parts.</p></sec><sec id="Sec7"><title>Testing the ideal free distribution</title><p>The proportion of tick life stages on the preferred body (i.e. the top ranked body part for the entire study period, Table <xref rid="Tab2" ref-type="table">2</xref>) part increased significantly (larvae: Kendall’s τ = 0.60, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001, nymphs: τ = 0.42, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001, females: τ = 0.58, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001) or did not change significantly (males: τ = −0.05, <italic>P</italic> = 0.575) with increasing absolute abundance of the same tick life stage/sex (Fig. <xref rid="Fig3" ref-type="fig">3</xref>; all correlations <italic>n</italic> = 80).<fig id="Fig3"><label>Fig. 3</label><caption><p>Use of preferred attachment sites by the four different tick life stages/sexes in relation to total abundance of the same tick life stage/sex on the entire roe deer (<italic>n</italic> = 80)</p></caption><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Fig3_HTML" id="MO6"></graphic></fig></p></sec><sec id="Sec8"><title>Niche breadth</title><p>Across the study period, nymphs were most specialised in their feeding site selection, followed by larvae, males and females (Table <xref rid="Tab3" ref-type="table">3</xref>). Niche indices of larvae and nymphs, however, did not differ significantly from each other (paired <italic>t</italic>-test: <italic>t</italic> = 0.276, df = 34, <italic>P</italic> = 0.784). Differences in niche indices were significantly different between larvae and males (<italic>t</italic> = −2.209, df = 32, <italic>P</italic> = 0.034), larvae and females (<italic>t</italic> = −3.951, df = 33, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001), nymphs and males (<italic>t</italic> = −3.407, df = 46, <italic>P</italic> = 0.01), nymphs and females (<italic>t</italic> = −7.288, df = 55, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001), and between males and females (<italic>t</italic> = −4.397, df = 47, <italic>P</italic> < 0.001). Compared to the niche breadth in the winter months 2008, niche breadth of larvae was significantly larger in May–June 2009 (Table <xref rid="Tab4" ref-type="table">4</xref>). Relative to the same reference season, nymphal niche breadth was significantly larger in all other seasons except for the winter months 2007. Niche breadth of male ticks was significantly larger in May–June 2009, July–August 2008 and 2009 compared to the niche breadth in November–December 2008; niche breadths in other sampling seasons were not significantly different to the reference season. Niche breadth of males was positively associated with host body mass. Female tick niche breadth was also larger during the May–June and July–August seasons compared to the reference season.<table-wrap id="Tab3"><label>Table 3</label><caption><p>Standardised index of niche breadth (<italic>B</italic><sub><italic>S</italic></sub> ± SE) for each tick stage/sex on roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) estimated for each sampling period and for the entire study period</p></caption><table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"></th><th align="left">Nov.–Dec. 2007</th><th align="left">May–June 2008</th><th align="left">July–Aug. 2008</th><th align="left">Nov.–Dec. 2008</th><th align="left">May–June 2009</th><th align="left">July–Aug. 2009</th><th align="left">Study period</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left">Larvae</td><td align="left">No larvae found</td><td char="(" align="char">0.09 (±0.03)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.13 (±0.05)</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.40 (±0.08)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.22 (±0.19)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.18 (±0.17)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Nymphs</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.14 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.16 (±0.01)</td><td align="left">0.01 (±0.00)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.15 (±0.06)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.29 (±0.18)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.11 (±0.11)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Males</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.22 (±0.02)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.27 (±0.03)</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.34 (±0.04)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.26 (±0.18)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.24 (±0.15)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Females</td><td align="left">0.07 (±0.03)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.41 (±0.02)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.42 (±0.02)</td><td align="left">0.11 (±0.01)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.29 (±0.04)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.39 (±0.12)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.31 (±0.16)</td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap><table-wrap id="Tab4"><label>Table 4</label><caption><p>Parameter estimates of generalised linear models explaining the variance of niche breadth of each tick development stage/sex on roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>)</p></caption><table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"></th><th align="left">Larvae</th><th align="left">Nymphs</th><th align="left">Males</th><th align="left">Females</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left">Intercept</td><td align="left">−0.052</td><td char="." align="char">−0.125</td><td char="." align="char">−0.502</td><td char="." align="char">0.016</td></tr><tr><td align="left">May–June 2008</td><td align="left">0.068</td><td char="." align="char">0.131**</td><td char="." align="char">0.287</td><td char="." align="char">0.280***</td></tr><tr><td align="left">May–June 2009</td><td align="left">0.379*</td><td char="." align="char">0.144**</td><td char="." align="char">0.421*</td><td char="." align="char">0.168*</td></tr><tr><td align="left">July–August 2008</td><td align="left">0.111</td><td char="." align="char">0.161**</td><td char="." align="char">0.379*</td><td char="." align="char">0.306***</td></tr><tr><td align="left">July–August 2009</td><td align="left">0.203</td><td char="." align="char">0.287***</td><td char="." align="char">0.343*</td><td char="." align="char">0.267**</td></tr><tr><td align="left">November–December 2007</td><td align="left">No larvae found</td><td char="." align="char">0.005</td><td char="." align="char">0.037</td><td char="." align="char">−0.056</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Body mass</td><td align="left">0.022</td><td char="." align="char">0.008</td><td char="." align="char">0.027*</td><td char="." align="char">0.007</td></tr></tbody></table><table-wrap-foot><p>* <italic>P</italic> < 0.05, ** <italic>P</italic> < 0.01, *** <italic>P</italic> < 0.001</p></table-wrap-foot></table-wrap></p></sec><sec id="Sec9"><title>Spatial niche overlap</title><p>Interstadial niche overlap was observed for all tick development/sex combinations (Table <xref rid="Tab5" ref-type="table">5</xref>). During the entire study period, it was highest among adult ticks, followed by nymphs-females, larvae-nymphs, nymphs-males, larvae-males and larvae-females. Larvae-nymph overlap was usually highest in May–June (both years) and in July–August 2009 (Table <xref rid="Tab6" ref-type="table">6</xref>). Overlap between males and larvae and larvae and females roughly followed the same pattern as larvae-nymph overlap. Spatial overlap between nymph-male and female-male ticks was generally higher during the summer months (May–June and July–August) than during the winter months. Spatial female-male tick overlap was positively associated with roe deer body mass.<table-wrap id="Tab5"><label>Table 5</label><caption><p>Pianka’s index of spatial niche overlap on roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) for each tick stage/sex combination estimated for each sampling period and for the entire study period</p></caption><table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"></th><th align="left">Nov.–Dec. 2007</th><th align="left">May–June 2008</th><th align="left">July–Aug. 2008</th><th align="left">Nov.–Dec. 2008</th><th align="left">May–June 2009</th><th align="left">July–Aug. 2009</th><th align="left">Study period</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left">Larvae-Nymphs</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.39 (±0.09)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.19 (±0.09)</td><td align="left">0.07 (±0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.63 (±0.13)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.58 (±0.19)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.25 (±0.04)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Larvae-Males</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.27 (±0.09)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.04 (±0.03)</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.47 (±0.12)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.28 (±0.12)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.15 (±0.03)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Larvae-Females</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.29 (+0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.06 (±0.02)</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.44 (±0.12)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.29 (±0.10)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.15 (±0.03)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Nymphs-Males</td><td align="left">0</td><td char="(" align="char">0.28 (±0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.31 (±0.07)</td><td align="left">0.07 (±0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.43 (±0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.34 (±0.11)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.20 (±0.03)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Nymphs-Females</td><td align="left">0.04 (±0.04)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.32 (±0.05)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.43 (±0.08)</td><td align="left">0.15 (±0.09)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.43 (±0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.42 (+0.11)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.26 (±0.03)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Males-Females</td><td align="left">0.08 (±0.06)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.62 (±0.10)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.88 (±0.06)</td><td align="left">0.09 (±0.07)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.97 (±0.02)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.83 (±0.10)</td><td char="(" align="char">0.50 (±0.05)</td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap><table-wrap id="Tab6"><label>Table 6</label><caption><p>Parameter estimates of generalised linear models explaining the variance of spatial niche overlap among tick development stage/sex combinations on roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) (* <italic>P</italic> < 0.05, ** <italic>P</italic> < 0.01, *** <italic>P</italic> < 0.001)</p></caption><table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"></th><th align="left">Larvae-Nymphs</th><th align="left">Larvae-Males</th><th align="left">Larvae-Females</th><th align="left">Nymphs-Males</th><th align="left">Nymphs-Females</th><th align="left">Males-Females</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left">Intercept</td><td char="." align="char">−0.248</td><td char="." align="char">0.090</td><td char="." align="char">0.083</td><td char="." align="char">−0.022</td><td char="." align="char">0.011</td><td char="." align="char">−0.284</td></tr><tr><td align="left">May–June 2008</td><td char="." align="char">0.271*</td><td char="." align="char">0.281**</td><td char="." align="char">0.301***</td><td char="." align="char">0.279***</td><td char="." align="char">0.153</td><td char="." align="char">0.490***</td></tr><tr><td align="left">May–June 2009</td><td char="." align="char">0.527***</td><td char="." align="char">0.477***</td><td char="." align="char">0.448***</td><td char="." align="char">0.429***</td><td char="." align="char">0.268*</td><td char="." align="char">0.863***</td></tr><tr><td align="left">July–August 2008</td><td char="." align="char">0.107</td><td char="." align="char">0.043</td><td char="." align="char">0.059</td><td char="." align="char">0.312***</td><td char="." align="char">0.279**</td><td char="." align="char">0.799***</td></tr><tr><td align="left">July–August 2009</td><td char="." align="char">0.479**</td><td char="." align="char">0.332**</td><td char="." align="char">0.310**</td><td char="." align="char">0.373***</td><td char="." align="char">0.205</td><td char="." align="char">0.785***</td></tr><tr><td align="left">November–December 2007</td><td char="." align="char">−0.089</td><td char="." align="char">0.001</td><td char="." align="char">0.001</td><td char="." align="char">0.000</td><td char="." align="char">−0.113</td><td char="." align="char">−0.011</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Body mass</td><td char="." align="char">0.023</td><td char="." align="char">−0.006</td><td char="." align="char">−0.006</td><td char="." align="char">0.001</td><td char="." align="char">0.010</td><td char="." align="char">0.025*</td></tr></tbody></table></table-wrap></p></sec></sec><sec id="Sec10"><title>Discussion</title><sec id="Sec11"><title>Feeding site selection and intraspecific aggregation</title><p>Overall, ticks were highly aggregated on the roe deer host. Averaged over the study period, roe deer heads were most heavily infested with ticks (Table <xref rid="Tab2" ref-type="table">2</xref>); 54% (SE ± 3) of the total tick burden was found on only 12% (SE ± 1) of the roe deer surface area.</p><p>For all sampling seasons combined, tick densities of body parts differed significantly; the pattern of tick density ranking was, however, only consistent for the most (head) and least (rest of the body, i.e. the flanks and the dorsal part of the roe deer) infested body part. The intermediate ranked body parts showed some variation in the density ranking from sampling season to sampling season. The observed distribution patterns and the relative narrow niche widths (Table <xref rid="Tab3" ref-type="table">3</xref>) suggest that each tick life stage apparently selects for certain body parts albeit there are minor derivations from season to season and year to year (cf. Table <xref rid="Tab2" ref-type="table">2</xref>). Larvae appear to prefer mainly the head and the front legs of roe deer. This pattern seems to be roughly similar in <italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> larvae feeding on sheep which apparently prefer the head and distal limbs of their hosts (Ogden et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR34">1998</xref>). Nymphs showed a narrow feeding site niche and had strong preferences for the head and the front legs, again similar to feeding sites of nymphs parasitizing sheep (Ogden et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR34">1998</xref>). Nymphs were especially clumped on the outside and inside (haired) parts of the roe deer ears. Adult ticks (males and females) apparently prefer the neck and the head which also appears similar in ticks feeding on sheep (Ogden et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR34">1998</xref>). Adult <italic>Ixodes scapularis</italic> feeding on white-tailed deer (<italic>Odocoileus virginianus</italic>) also prefer feeding on the head (incl. the ears) and the neck of their hosts (Schmidtmann et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR46">1998</xref>). Clearly, any host-targeted tick control device (e.g. Fish and Childs <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR6">2009</xref>; Pound et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR40">2009</xref>) should focus the acaricide agent application on these body parts. Feeding site selection and consequently, niche width and niche overlap varied considerably by season but also by year. Ultimately, these variations are mainly due to the strong seasonality in activity patterns of the different stages (Fig. <xref rid="Fig4" ref-type="fig">4</xref>).<fig id="Fig4"><label>Fig. 4</label><caption><p>Seasonal pattern of mean numbers of larval, nymphal, male, female and all ticks (<italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> complex) attached to roe deer (<italic>Capreolus capreolus</italic>) from the forests of Göttingen, Germany</p></caption><graphic xlink:href="10493_2010_9378_Fig4_HTML" id="MO7"></graphic></fig></p><p>Numerous factors might influence the observed spatial aggregation of tick life stages/sexes among which season and year (this paper), but also host/body part characteristics like skin thickness, humidity, blood circulation and de-ticking by grooming behaviour of the host might play an important role (L’Hostis et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR24">1994</xref>; Ogden et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR34">1998</xref>). The observed attachment patterns suggest that there is some sort of active selection involved. Contradicting the ideal free distribution hypothesis (Fig. <xref rid="Fig3" ref-type="fig">3</xref>), number of ticks feeding on the preferred body part increased significantly (and did not change significantly in males) with increasing abundance of this life stage/sex on the entire roe deer. These results are in line with propositions that aggregation of <italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> ticks are caused by pheromone excreted by conspecifics (e.g. Sonenshine <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR47">2006</xref>; Healy and Bourke <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR15">2008</xref>) whereas this remains to be further tested for <italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic>. For the tick <italic>Rhipicephalus appendiculatus</italic>, gregarious feeding turned out to be beneficial (increased blood feeding rate, reduced time to mating and repletion) for female ticks (Wang et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR51">2001</xref>). Gregariousness might also be beneficial for <italic>Ixodes</italic> ticks that attach on the host in order to feed, seeming to be an evolutionary stable strategy. That gregarious feeding might be beneficial is further supported by the fact that apparent intrastadial attraction only occurs in those tick stages that actually feed (larvae, nymphs, females) on the roe deer blood but not in males which ultimately seek a female tick for reproduction. The quest for a mate might explain the strong overlap between the female and male ticks which mainly occurs on the neck of the roe deer. It is notable that niche width of males and female-male overlap are correlated with body mass of the host. This might be due to the positive relationship between adult tick burden and age and body mass of roe deer (Vor et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR49">2010</xref>). However, until now tick burden on roe deer appears to follow rather unpredictable patterns apart from seasonality and thus impedes straight forward identification of potential super-spreaders (cf. Perkin et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR36">2003</xref>).</p></sec><sec id="Sec12"><title>Interstadial aggregation</title><p>Next to intraspecific aggregation, interstadial attachment site overlap is of considerable interest as this might facilitate pathogen transmission from one feeding development stage to another (i.e. larvae, nymphs and females). Therefore, larvae-nymph, larvae-female and nymph-female feeding aggregations are of special importance. Of these, niche overlap was greatest between nymphs and females and larvae and nymphs. Nymph-female feeding overlap mainly takes place on the head of the roe deer. Here, distances between the two stages are however relatively large, because most nymphs are located on the pinna whereas most larvae are attached around the muzzle and the eyes. Larvae-female overlap also mainly takes place on the roe deer’s head, whereas both stages feed in close proximity to each other, suggesting that pathogen transmission could be relatively efficient. Overall, niche overlap was significantly affected by season, reflecting seasonal activity peaks of the development stages (Fig. <xref rid="Fig4" ref-type="fig">4</xref>) observed during our study. In areas, where larvae and nymphs show even stronger seasonal synchrony (e.g. Randolph et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR43">1999</xref>, <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR44">2000</xref>), co-feeding between these immature tick stages might take place, especially on the head and front legs of roe deer, where the two stages feed side by side. For tick-borne encephalitis virus, co-feeding transmission has been observed in forest rodent species such as <italic>Apodemus</italic> spp., <italic>Myodes glareolus</italic> (Labuda et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR25">1993</xref>, <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR26">1996</xref>); for <italic>Borrelia burgdorferi</italic> co-feeding transmission has been demonstrated for ticks feeding on several rodent species, medium sized mammals, sheep (<italic>Ovis aries</italic>) and several bird species (Gern and Rais <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR11">1996</xref>; Ogden et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR33">1997</xref>; Gern et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR12">1998</xref>). Without a systematic infection of the host, Louping-ill virus can be transmitted from tick to tick feeding on hares (<italic>Lepus timidus</italic>), sheep, red grouse (<italic>Lagopus lagopus scoticus</italic>), but not by ticks feeding on red deer (<italic>Cervus elaphus</italic>), rabbits (<italic>Oryctolagus cuniculus</italic>) and rodents (<italic>Apodemus sylvaticus, Myodes glareolus</italic>) (Jones et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR20">1997</xref>; Gilbert et al. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CR13">2000</xref>). In the absence of experiments testing co-feeding pathogen transmission on roe deer, we strongly recommend conducting such co-feeding transmission experiments for different tick-vectored pathogens.</p></sec></sec></body><back><ack><p>We would like to sincerely thank J. Berger, D. Birke, E. Kreysern, W. Mänz, M. Scholz, and R. Zietlow and all involved hunters and forest rangers for providing the roe deer. We thank K. Hammer, H. Lippe, A. and M. Lödige and M. Scholz for their help during the field work. 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