Models of temporal variation in questing activity in individuals of Ixodesrecinus (Acari : Ixodidae)

Intensive observations of the questing activity of Ixodes ricinus ticks in the field were made to provide data on the range of durations of periods of continuous questing activity, and of the variation in questing activity be tween individuals. Continuous periods of questing were observed to extend t o a maximum of 28 hours. Substantial variation in questing activity between individuals was observed. Models fitted to the distribution of durations o f bouts of questing activity provide insights into the questing ecology of I. ricinus. Results suggest that questing duration may not be solely depend ent on the state of hydration of the tick. A function fitted to the frequen cy distribution of the proportions of active life that individuals spend on questing, provides an empirically-based model that can be used to generate a stochastic expression of variation of questing activity in individuals i n a questing population .