New recordings show that flying kites are spreading in the United States.

With their flattened bodies, forefeet and deciduous wings, deer do not look like your typical fly. According to Penn State entomologists, these deer parasites – which sometimes bite humans – are more widespread in the United States than previously thought, warning that deer can transmit pathogenic bacteria.

"We knew more or less where the deer are, but in a very general way," said Michael Skvarla, extension trainer and director of the insect identification laboratory of the Department of Entomology. from Penn State. "We do not know if deer transmit pathogens (pathogenic microorganisms), but if they do, it may be important to know where they are specifically to tell people to pay attention to them. . "

The researchers collected information on the four species of deer in North America and produced the most detailed locality map to date, listing ten new state registers and 122 new county records. The researchers published their findings in a recent issue of Journal of Medical Entomology. They also provided an illustrated species identification key.

The team mobilized citizen science – the collection of data by the public – to collect deer records from the United States and Canada. In addition to consulting databases of museums and community websites such as BugGuide and iNaturalist, the team also distributed deer collection kits to hunters as part of the Pennsylvania Parasite Hunters Community Project. The researchers also collected flies directly from carcasses of Pennsylvanian deer butchers.

"I really like to use citizen science information," Skvarla said. "This often fills a lot of gaps because people take pictures in places where entomologists may not be able to go in. The white-tailed deer are the ideal candidates for citizen science and they are easy to identify because they are not good enough. There are only four species in the country and we are mainly geographically separated, and as flat and parasitic flies they are really distinctive.You can not do that with many groups of insects because it would be too difficult to identify from photographs. "

The European ked deer, Lipoptena cervi, which would have been introduced from Europe, has already taken place throughout the North-East region. Researchers have recently reported this species in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and as far south as Virginia. In Pennsylvania, it occurs everywhere in the state, with 26 new county registries.

The researchers also describe new records of the neotropical ked deer, L. mazamae, North Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri – its range has been expanded farther north and east than previously reported

In western North America, two species of deer, L. depressa and Neolipoptena ferrisi, are from British Columbia to the United States and Mexico – and also to the east as South Dakota. Researchers have recently reported these species from Nevada and Idaho.

Deer are usually found on deer, elk and moose, but they sometimes bite humans and domestic mammals. Although several tick – borne pathogens – including bacteria that cause Lyme disease, fever that causes itchy cats and anaplasmosis – have been detected in deer, it is unclear whether they can be found in animals. they can be transmitted by bites.

"In Pennsylvania, you have a lot of hunters," Skvarla said. "Deer can run your arm while you dress a deer and you bite.If these insects catch the deer pathogens, they could pass them on to the hunters." With two million hunters in the state, this does not happen. It's not an easy task We do not want to scare people, but people should be aware that deer can spread pathogens that can cause disease. "

The researchers will then examine hundreds of deer captured for pathogens. They will also dissect some insects to separately screen the salivary glands and intestines. According to Skvarla, this approach will reveal whether deer can transmit pathogens through bites or if bacteria simply pass into the intestine after a blood meal.

In Pennsylvania, each fall, after the deer are raised, they fly to a host and immediately fling their wings, usually staying on the same host for life. Females produce only one egg at a time. The egg hatches in it and it feeds the growing larva with a milk-like substance. When the larva is almost completely developed, it falls into the ground and forms a pupa, eventually emerging in the form of a winged adult. If pathogenic bacteria are transmitted from mother to offspring, newly emerged flies could transmit pathogens to hosts. Pathogens can also spread when flies carrying bacteria leap between animals in close contact.

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