The common hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus Linnaeus, 1758) role in feeding ixodid ticks

Ixodid ticks pose a serious danger to humans and animals, as they are carriers and reserves of pathogens of many infectious diseases. To maintain their numbers in nature, ixodids need animal hosts. The aim of research was to study the level of trophic relationships between the common hedgehog and ixodid ticks of all developmental phases inhabiting the Northern Trans-Urals. The research work was carried out from May to September 2014 to 2019 in the taiga-forest and forest-steppe zones of the Northern Trans-Urals. A total of 35 specimens of the common hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus Linnaeus) were collected. It has been established that in the taiga-forest and forest-steppe zones of the Northern Trans-Urals, the common hedgehog is the optimal host for all phases of development of ixodid ticks inhabiting this territory. The adults, nymphs, and larvae of the ixodid ticks I. persulcatus and D. reticulatus can simultaneously and comfortably feed on the same host. More than half of all ixodids collected from hedgehogs were in the adult stage (52.40 %); nymphs (29.08 %) and larvae (18.52 %) were found to a lesser extent. The dominant ixodid species in the studied stations was I. persulcatus, whose ID was 62.68±4.74% in the subzone of the northern forest-steppe and 88.16±1.58 % in the subzone of the subtaiga. The abundance of ticks at all stages of development was 50.19±1.66 individuals in the forest-steppe and 42.22±1.72 % in the taiga-forest zone. Among the developmental phases parasitizing on hedgehogs in all natural and climatic zones, the imaginal (53.03 % prevailed in the forest-steppe and 50.26 % in the taiga-forest).