Environmental Scientist Delaware Fish and Wildlife Newark, Delaware
It has been more than three-quarters of a century since the inaugural (and to date, only) official report of Delaware’s ticks (Ixodida) was published (MacCreary 1945). Similarly, records of fleas (Siphonaptera) in Delaware are limited to a handful of publications dating back to 1980 and earlier. In the intervening decades, new tick and flea species have been detected, new ectoparasite-host associations have been documented, and new associated public health threats have emerged. Four years into the state's tick program, we present a long-overdue updated checklist of ticks and fleas collected through active and passive surveillance methods along with records of their host associations and phenology.