Lyme borreliosis is transmitted in nature by the hard tick, Ixodes scapularis. Now that the tick/rabbit facility is functional, we are in a position to establish our own colony of this tick species rather than relying on other laboratories for specimens. Nymphs of the Westchester County, NY strain were blood fed on mice and, after molting, we obtained 46 adults. It is customary to blood feed these on the ears of rabbits to obtain eggs. In the first trial we wished to test each step involved in the blood feeding process before committing our entire stock of adults to this procedure. A single female tick was placed on each ear of a rabbit which, in turn, was covered with a hosiery stocking adhered to the base of the ear. Three days later the ticks were observed to be attached and beginning to engorge with blood, a process that takes 6-10 days. However, when the ear bags were removed on day 7, the ticks were found detached but dead in the ear bag. It seems that these adults desiccate quickly unless they are removed and placed in humidified jars soon after detachment. In the next trial the condition of the ticks will be monitored twice daily during the feeding process. A single female can give rise to as many as 1000 eggs, so we expect to have a well-established colony in several stages of development by the next reporting period.
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