Table 3.
Blood meal identification in questing nymphs from EXTF and PATF in the Province of Trento, Italy
| Larval hosts targeted (primer set used)a |
Number and percentage of identified hosts in questing nymphs | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest type | Total (%)h | ||
| EXTF (%)h | PATF (%)h | ||
| Rodentia (Muroidea) | 46 (31.7) | 23 (24.5) | 69 (28.9) |
| Apodemus spp. | 44 (30.3) | 23 (24.5) | 67 (28.0) |
| Myodes glareolus | 1 (0.69) | 0 | 1 (0.4) |
| Mus musculus | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cricetus griseus b | 1 (0.69) | 0 | 1 (0.4) |
| Carnivora (Canidae) | 33 (22.7) | 35 (37.2) | 68 (28.4) |
| Canis lupus familiaris | 28 (19.3) | 23 (24.5) | 51 (21.3) |
| Vulpes vulpes | 5 (3.4) | 12 (12.7) | 17 (7.1) |
| Cetartiodactyla (Caprinae, Cervidae) | 30 (20.7) | 11 (11.7) | 41 (17.2) |
| Ovis spp.c,d | 5 (3.4) | 2 (2.1) | 7 (2.9) |
| Rupicapra rupicapra d | 3 (2.1) | 0 | 3 (1.3) |
| Capra hircus c | 2 (1.4) | 0 | 2 (0.8) |
| Bos taurus c | 0 | 3 (3.2) | 3 (1.3) |
| Capreolus capreolus d | 8 (5.5) | 2 (2.1) | 10 (4.2) |
| Cervus elaphus d | 12 (8.3) | 3 (3.2) | 15 (6.3) |
| Dama dama b,d | 0 | 1 (1.1) | 1 (0.4) |
| Passeriformes (Passeriformes) | 14 (9.6) | 21 (22.3) | 35 (14.6) |
| Turdus merula | 8 (5.5) | 8 (8.5) | 16 (6.7) |
| Turdus spp./Erithacus rubecula e | 6 (4.1) | 13 (13.8) | 19 (7.9) |
| Soricomorpha (Soricidae) | 22 (15.2) | 4 (4.3) | 26 (10.9) |
| Sorex spp. | 9 (6.2) | 0 | 9 (3.8) |
| Sorex araneus | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crocidura leucodon | 7 (4.8) | 2 (2.1) | 9 (3.8) |
| Crocidura suaveolens | 6 (4.1) | 2 (2.1) | 8 (3.3) |
| Crocidura russula | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total no. of nymphs analysed | 506 | 342 | 848 |
| Total no. of nymphs with identified blood meal | 130 | 85 | 215 |
| Total no. of hosts identified | 145 | 94 | 239 |
| % identification successf | 25.7 | 24.9 | 25.4 |
| No. of mixed blood meals identified | 14 | 9 | 23 |
| % of mixed blood mealsg | 10.8 | 10.6 | 10.7 |
Abbreviations: EXTF extensive forest, PATF patchy forest
aHost group primers as described in Collini et al. [11]
bHost not targeted in original protocol as described by Collini et al. [11], but identified here after HRMA, by sequencing and BLASTing
cAmplified with Caprinae primers
dAmplified with Cervidae primers
eHRMA of Passeriformes amplicons did not allow discrimination between T. philomelos and E. rubecula
fTotal no. of nymphs with identified blood meal/total no. of nymphs analysed * 100
gTotal no. of mixed blood meals identified/total no. of nymphs with identified blood meal * 100
hNo. of identified host for taxonomic level/total no. hosts identified * 100