Animal
Blacklegged tick
Ixodes scapularis
Also known as: deer tick, Lyme tick
The principal vector of Lyme disease in the eastern United States — and one of the borough's most-consequential ecological pressures, both for humans and for native wildlife. Tick populations on Staten Island have climbed in tandem with the deer over-population since the 2010s. The Greenbelt and the borough's South Shore parks are now considered Lyme-endemic environments.
Scientific
Ixodes scapularis is a small (1–3 mm unfed) hard tick whose three life stages — larva, nymph, adult — each require a blood meal from a different host. Larvae and nymphs feed on small rodents (especially the [[white-footed-mouse|white-footed mouse]], Peromyscus leucopus); adults feed on deer or other large mammals. The tick acquires Borrelia burgdorferi (the Lyme bacterium) from infected mice during the larval/nymphal stage and transmits it to subsequent hosts during the nymphal/adult stage.
Lyme disease incidence has expanded northward and inward across the eastern U.S. over the last 30 years. Northeast and upper Midwest are the hardest-hit regions. Other tick-borne diseases (anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan virus) are emerging in the same range.
On Staten Island
The borough is now Lyme-endemic. The Greenbelt’s deciduous-forest understory, the South Shore parks, and any residential yard with deer access carry meaningful tick-encounter risk. NYC Department of Health tracks Lyme cases and reports steadily increasing borough incidence.
The biology is integrated: deer over-population → more adult tick blood meals → more egg-laying → more larvae and nymphs → more human exposures. [[virginia-opossum|Opossum]] density partially counters this by removing ticks during grooming. Tick-control approaches that target the [[white-footed-mouse|white-footed mouse]] reservoir (bait boxes, fipronil-treated cotton) are emerging but not at scale on the borough.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Substrate of: [[white-tailed-deer]]
- Counterpart to: [[virginia-opossum]]
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- CDC Lyme disease surveillance records
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tick-borne-disease records
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Lyme research (Ostfeld et al.)
Rooted in life.
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Scientific
substrate of
- White-footed mouse white-footed mice are the principal reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi (the Lyme bacterium); blacklegged tick larvae and nymphs that feed on infected mice transmit Lyme to subsequent hosts
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