Efficacy of dry ice-baited traps for sampling Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) varies with life stage but not habitat

The carbon dioxide-baited trap is the most common and effective method for sampling vector life-stage Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae), although confounding environmental variables are rarely considered. A mark-recapture experiment was designed to compare recapture proportions of A. americanum nymphs and adults between two habitat types: old field and oak-hickory forest. Powdered fluorescent dye was used to mark A. americanum ticks released in 1-m increments from carbon dioxide-baited traps. Adults were recaptured in significantly higher proportion than nymphs, but habitat type had no significant effect on recapture proportions. Tick abundance is an important parameter in the estimation of human risk of exposure to tick-borne disease and the influence of life stage on capture rates should be considered when calculating entomological risk.