Duration of the Activity Period in Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794) (Parasitiformes, Ixodidae) in the Taiga Zone of Western Siberia

The ixodid tick Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794) has a one-year-long development cycle. It is believed that its adults show exceptional longevity, can overwinter repeatedly, and enter summer diapause in July. During five summer seasons, all the ticks collected by flagging with a 60 × 120-cm flag were marked with unique group marks. On the whole, 2013 ticks were marked. The greatest number of marked ticks was recaptured during the first month (319 ind.); from 1 to 28 ticks (16.6 ± 2.72 on average) were recaptured during the 2nd–9th months after marking, and 4.5 ± 1.8 ticks, during the 9–13th months. Fifteen ticks lived for about a year, and the last marked tick was recaptured 463 days after release. Dermacentor reticulatus seems to be unable to overwinter twice in the taiga zone, because all the marked ticks collected after wintering (80 ind.) had overwintered only once.