Unknown to the United States three decades ago, Lyme disease is now the most prevalent vectorborne disease in the country. Caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease is typically transmitted to humans by the bite of a blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the nymph stage. For this reason the density of infected nymphs is considered the most precise ecological indicator of Lyme...

The egg and five nymphal stages, of the Neotropical species Potamobates anchicaya are described and illustrated for the first time. Intra- and intersexual variation in the abdominal terminalia of apterous adults is also illustrated. Adults and nymphs were collected from three populations in southwestern Colombia. 

Many argasid tick species are known only through their larval descriptions, in which the chaetotaxy, together with other external morphological characteristics, has been used to separate genera and species. However, the illustrations of these features are based on optical microscopy alone and many of these features are not clearly defined. Because of the difficulties in determining the larval a...

The present investigation provides comparative morphometrics of the final instar nymphs of three dominant cicada species, i.e., Cryptotympana atrata (Fabricius), Meimuna mongolica (Distant) and Platypleura kaempferi (Fabricius), in Guanzhong Plain, China. Particularly, characters on the antennae, legs, and apex of abdomen of both males and females of these three species were investigated and an...

The geographical distribution and intra-domiciliary capture of sylvatic triatomines in three districts of the province of La Convención, Cusco, Peru are presented. In the district of Vilcabamba, eight adults of Rhodnius pictipes and five adults of Panstrongylus geniculatus were found. In the district of Ocobamba, 19 adults, 14 nymphs, and eggs of P. rufotuberculatus were found. In the district ...