Occurrence of the American Dog Tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) in Western Nova Scotia

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Abstract
The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) is abundant in many localities throughout the coastal plains of eastern United States (Bequaert, 1946) and according to Lewis (1960) occurs in sparse numbers as far north as the Bangor area in Maine. In Canada, it is found from Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia (Gregson, 1956) but seemingly only in small numbers and in widely separated areas east of Manitoba. The published information on its occurrence in Nova Scotia is limited to a single record by Twinn (1944) who mentioned that male and female American dog ticks in “considerable numbers” were taken at the upper waters of the Sissiboo River in Digby County. Since its presence in western Nova Scotia in infestation numbers does not appear to be generally known outside that province, it is felt that a note on our observations on D. variabilis might be of interest.