RECORDS OF IXODOIDEA (TICKS) FROM ESSEX 193
Records of Ixodoidea (Ticks) from Essex
By Gordon B. Thompson and Robert J. Knowles
The Ixodoidea or ticks have received little attention in the
county. Of the 22 species listed from Britain only three have been
recorded.
(1) Ixodes ricinus (L.)—"on bushes and trees", Epping Forest
(Pickard—Cambridge, 1876); Shadbolt (1845) referred to a British
species of Ixodes found "on some cows belonging to a farmer resid-
ing at Chingford, Essex, on the borders of Epping Forest", which
may have been I. ricinus.
(2) I. hexagonus Leach—"in human arm", Epping (Anon,
1901); Arthur (1953) recorded numerous cases of human parasi-
tism by this tick and included three Essex records—(i) ♀, "on a
woman", Chelmsford, 27.vi.1944: (ii) ♀, in air-raid shelter, com-
plaints by occupants of bites". Ilford, 7.vii.l944: (iii) ♂, "in
factory", Dagenham, 20.x.1946. Later (p. 237) in the same paper
5 records of the species were mentioned from Essex without
details.
(3) I. trianguliceps Birula—2 ♀ ♀, Rattus norvegicus (Berken-
hout), Dedham, Pike's Farm, 16.x.1911 (Strickland & Merriman,
1913, and Nuttall, 1916); 2 5 V, Micromys minutus (Pallas), West
Bergholt, 16.xii.1958 (Rowe, 1961); Arthur (1963) figured speci-
mens from "nests of Sorex vulgaris" and "nests of field mice",
Billericay and referred to specimens from Billericay ("unpub-
lished") without more details (see below).
Ticks are the most important carriers of disease of man and
domestic animals. In Britain, although much work has been done,
our knowledge of the distribution and hosts of the 22 species is
poor and records which add something to this knowledge are
worth publishing. The following records add four species to the
county list, these previously unrecorded species are asterisked. It
is not yet possible to give the distribution of the species within
the county because the localities merely represent the distribution
of collectors.
IXODIDAE
Ixodes hexagonus Leach
15 nymphs, Erinaceus europaeus (L.) (Hedgehog—♀ ), Billeri-
cay, vii.1957 (R.J.K.); 17+ V, (Hedgehog—♂—on abdomen and
behind ears), Billericay, vii.1962 (R.J.K.); 2 ♀ ♀, 2 larvae, (Hedge-
hog—♂ juv.—on abdomen), Billericay, 8.vii.l965, (R.J.K.); 1 ♀,
(Hedgehog—♂ juv.—on ear), Billericay, 21.viii.1965 (R.J.K.); 1 ♀,