Monitoring and analysis of free-living ticks in Yangzhou parks from 2020 to 2024
XU Pei
ZHANG Jiaxiang
LI Qiumei
LUO Zhizhi
TIAN Jingshen
YIN Haitao
WANG Yin
Abstract：Objective To understand the population,density,distribution and seasonal fluctuation of free-living ticks in parks of Yangzhou from 2020 to 2024,so as to provide suggestions and decision-making basis for the comprehensive control of ticks.Methods From April to September each year of 2020 to 2024,the free-living ticks in forest parks,suburban parks and urban parks of Yangzhou were monitored by the flagging method.The t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare tick density in different habitats and counties(cities,districts).Chi-square test was used to compare and analyze the differences in tick changes among different species,with a test level of a=0.05.Results The average annual density of free-living ticks in parks of Yangzhou from 2020 to 2024 was 0.28 ticks/(flag·100 m).There was a statistically significant difference in tick density among different counties(cities,districts)(t=3.341,P=0.02).The seasonal fluctuation trend of tick density from April to September showed a bimodal distribution,with a peak in April at 0.47 ticks/(flag·100 m)and a smaller peak in July-August at 0.24 and 0.26 ticks/(flag·100 m),respectively.There was a statistically significant difference in tick density among different habitats(F=8.202,P=0.006),with the highest density in forest parks at 0.75 ticks/(flag·100 m)and the lowest in urban parks at 0.07 ticks/(flag·100 m).There was a statistically significant difference in the number of different species of free-living ticks(χ2＜48.23,P＜0.05).Conclusion The density of free-living ticks in parks of Yangzhou has been increasing year by year from 2020 to 2024,with the peak density in April.Forest parks are the dominant habitats,and Haemaphysalis longicornis is the dominant species.In recent years,H.longicornis has been spreading from the west to the northeast of Yangzhou.Therefore,it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of free-living ticks in hilly areas and forest and suburban parks and control the breeding of ticks.
Keywords：free-living ticksHaemaphysalis longicornisparkpopulation densityhabitat distributionseasonal fluctuation
Publication Date：2025-12-20
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-09(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 692-695 )