What highly refined evolutionary trait makes ticks formidable vectors regarding pathogen carriage?
Answer
Remaining infective across the entire lifespan via trans-stadial or trans-generational passage
Ticks exhibit a highly refined evolutionary trait that significantly enhances their danger as disease vectors: their ability to maintain infectivity across different developmental stages or even across generations. This means pathogens can be passed trans-stadially (from larva to nymph, or nymph to adult) or trans-generationally (from the parent tick to its offspring). This persistence ensures that the tick remains a continuous threat throughout its lifespan, making them formidable agents in disease ecology, unlike pathogens that are only retained for a short duration or only acquired at a single life stage.
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