Numbers (n) of rodents examined for ticks, infestation prevalences (percent of rodents infested), mean intensities (mean per infested rodent), and numbers and stages (N, nymph/s; L, larva) of ticks recovered, respectively, for Georgia sites were as follows. Bulloch County: Peromyscus gossypinus (n = 36), Dermacentor variabilis (36%; 3.1; 12N, 28L), Ixodes minor (19%; 1.3; 4N, 1L), Ixodes scapularis (6%; 1.0; 1N, 1L); Neotoma floridana (n = 21), Amblyomma maculatum (14%, 2.7, 8L), D. variabilis (24%; 1.4; 1♂,1♀,3N, 2L), I. minor (19%; 1.3; 1♀, 3N, 1L); Sigmodon hispidus (n = 9), D. variabilis (22%, 2.0, 4N). Oliver town, Screven County: P. gossypinus (n = 3), D. variabilis (100%, 2.7, 8L), I. minor (33%, 1.0, 1N); N. floridana (n = 2), I. minor (100%; 1.5; 1♂,1♀,1N); S. hispidus (n = 4), no ticks. Mistletoe State Park, Columbia County: Peromyscus sp. (N.B., P. gossypinus and Peromyscus leucopus both occur at this site and some individuals, particularly juveniles, could not reliably be assigned to species) (n = 50), D. variabilis (32%; 3.3; 10N, 42L); N. floridana (n = 6), no ticks; S. hispidus (n = 17), D. variabilis (12%, 4.0; 3N, 5L) (1). St. Catherines Island, Liberty County: P. gossypinus (n = 382), D. variabilis (19%; 2.4; 31N, 143L), I. affinis (18%; 2.0; 7N, 130L), I. scapularis (24%; 2.3; 22N, 188L) (N.B., neither N. floridana nor S. hispidus inhabits this island).

Corresponding host/tick data for two of the Florida sites were as follows. Tall Timbers Research Station, Leon County: P. gossypinus (n = 64), D. variabilis (17%; 2.2; 5N, 19L), I. minor (6%, 1.3, 5N), I. scapularis (2%, 1.0, 1L); N. floridana (n = 9), A. maculatum (11%, 1.0, 1N), D. variabilis (11%, 1.0, 1L), I. minor (22%; 1.0; 1N,1L); S. hispidus (n = 23), A. maculatum (4%, 1.0, 1N), I. minor (4%, 1.0, 1N) (2). Merritt Island, Brevard County: P. gossypinus (n = 10), Amblyomma dissimile (10%, 1.0, 1L), S. hispidus (n = 28), D. variabilis (4%, 1.0, 1N), I. minor (4%, 1.0, 1♀) (3).

The following tick infestation parameters were recorded for rodents in Jasper County, SC: P. gossypinus (n = 5), A. maculatum (100%, 4.6, 23L); N. floridana (n = 16), A. maculatum (13%, 2.5, 5L), I. minor (44%, 2.1, 15N), I. scapularis (6%, 1.0, 1L). Corresponding rodent/tick data for the remaining South Carolina sites are presented elsewhere (4). Briefly, the numbers of rodents sampled (mostly P. gossypinus, N. floridana, and S. hispidus) and the ticks recovered from them in each of the six counties were as follows: Berkeley County (four rodents): I. affinis (1N); Charleston County. (109 rodents): A. maculatum (22N, 177L), D. variabilis (19N, 101L), I. affinis (3N, 38L), I. minor (152 adults, 61N, 256L), I. scapularis (2N, 9L); Chester County (53 rodents): D. variabilis (3N, 48L); Georgetown County (36 rodents): A. maculatum (1N), D. variabilis (9N, 71L), I. affinis (28L), I. minor (22 adults, 33N, 294L), I. scapularis (1N, 10L); Orangeburg County (four rodents): A. maculatum (3N, 2L); Sumter County. (31 rodents): A. maculatum (4N), D. variabilis (4N, 91L), I. affinis (1N, 18L), I. scapularis (1N, 29L). Eastern woodrats (n = 47) from Charleston and Georgetown Counties combined were parasitized by the following tick species: A. maculatum (6%; 5.3; 2N, 14L), D. variabilis (15%; 4.9; 1N, 33L), I. affinis (17%; 4.3; 1N, 33L), I. minor (70%; 14.7; 66%,104♀, 41N, 274L), I. scapularis (4%, 2.5, 5L) (5).

Two of the Georgia collection sites are barrier islands in different counties; a third site (St. Marys) is located on the coastal mainland; a fourth county (Bulloch) is located » 145 km (90 miles) inland in the Coastal Plain region; and the fifth site (Mistletoe State Park, Columbia County) is located on the border of the Upper Coastal Plain and Piedmont sections of Georgia » 290 km (180 miles) from the Atlantic ocean.

Three of the Florida collection sites are coastal, but Tall Timbers Research Station is far inland from the Atlantic ocean. It is » 48 km (30 miles) north of Tallahassee in Leon County » 160 km (100 miles) north of the Gulf of Mexico coast. Prevalences of spirochete infections in P. gossypinus from the Florida locations ranged from zero to » 5% (Table 1). The percentages of infected P. gossypinus from the five sites in South Carolina were much greater than those from Georgia and Florida and ranged from 8 to 69% (Table 1). The Wedge Plantation and Mt. Pleasant (both in Charleston County) are » 80 km (50 miles) apart; however, both are within 32 km (20 miles) of the Atlantic Ocean. Hobcaw Barony (Georgetown County) is also near the coast » 48 km (30 miles) north of the Wedge Plantation. The Jasper County collection site is » 48 km (30 miles) north of the Georgia--South Carolina border and » 32 km (20 miles) from the Atlantic coast. The Sumter County site is located inland in the Sandhills region between the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions (4).

1. Hu, R., Durden, L. A. & Oliver, J. H., Jr. (2000) J. Vect. Ecol. 25, 23-27.

2. Durden, L. A., Hu, R., Oliver, J. H., Jr., & Cilek, J. E. (2000) J. Vect. Ecol. 25, 222–228.

3. Durden, L. A., Klompen, J. S. H. & Keirans, J. E. (1993) J. Parasitol. 79, 283–286.

4. Clark, K. L., Oliver, J. H., Jr., Mckechnie, D. B. & Williams, D. C. (1998) J. Vect. Ecol. 23, 89–105.

5. Durden, L. A., Banks, C. W., Clark, K. L., Belbey, B. V. & Oliver, J. H., Jr. (1997) J. Parasitol. 83, 374–381.