Table 1.

Summary of averages of biological parameters of D. variabilis ticks infected with R. rickettsii and uninfected control groups with 95% confidence intervals

Biological parameter	Uninfected	Infected
Larval feeding duration (d)	4.9 ± 0.01	5.1 ± 0.4*
Larval molting success	48.7 ± 2.41%	65.9 ± 2.61%*
Nymphal feeding duration (d)	5.1 ± 0.02	5.9 ± 0.06*
Nymphal feeding success	99.7 ± 0.650%	95.0 ± 2.47%*
Nymphal molting success	99.3 ± 1.02%	99.2 ± 1.06%
Female feeding duration (d)	7.5 ± 0.3	9.3 ± 0.6*
Female feeding success	100%	88 ± 13%*
Male feeding success	100%	84 ± 15%*
Female engorgement weight (g)	0.628 ± 0.049	0.537 ± 0.047*
Preoviposition period (d)	8.9 ± 0.6	9.2 ± 0.8
Clutch weight (g)	0.298 ± 0.032	0.213 ± 0.043*
Bloodmeal conversion index	0.472 ± 0.026	0.389 ± 0.058*
Incubation (d)	53.4 ± 0.9	53.5 ± 0.8
Percentage hatched	83 ± 12%	60 ± 9.5%*

^*Values of D. variabilis ticks infected with R. rickettsii are significantly different than uninfected D. variabilis ticks (P ≤ 0.05).