Locomotor Activity of <i>Ixodes ricinus</i> Females in 900 MHz Electromagnetic Field
Blažena Vargová,
Igor Majláth,
Juraj Kurimský,
Roman Cimbala,
Ján Zbojovský,
Piotr Tryjanowski,
Viktoria Majláthová
Affiliations
Blažena Vargová
Center for Applied Research, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Igor Majláth
Institute of Biology and Ecology, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 80 Košice, Slovakia
Juraj Kurimský
Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University of Košice, Mäsiarska 74, 041 20 Košice, Slovakia
Roman Cimbala
Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University of Košice, Mäsiarska 74, 041 20 Košice, Slovakia
Ján Zbojovský
Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University of Košice, Mäsiarska 74, 041 20 Košice, Slovakia
Piotr Tryjanowski
Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625 Poznań, Poland
Viktoria Majláthová
Institute of Biology and Ecology, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Šrobárova 2, 041 80 Košice, Slovakia
Mobile telecommunications technologies have become an indispensable part of people’s lives of all ages around the world. They affect personal life and social interactions and are a work tool in the work routine. Network availability requirements and the quality of the Internet connection are constantly increasing, to which telecommunications providers are responding. Humans and wildlife live in the permanent presence of electromagnetic radiation with just a minor knowledge of the impact this radiation has. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of a 900 MHz electromagnetic field (EMF) on the locomotor behavior of female Ixodes ricinus ticks under laboratory conditions. Experiments were performed in the radiation-shielded tube (RST) test and radiation-shielded circular open-field arena placed in an anechoic chamber. Altogether, 480 female I. ricinus ticks were tested. In the RST arena, no differences in preference for irradiated and shielded parts of experimental modules were observed; in the open-field arena, the time spent and the trajectory passed was significantly longer in the part exposed to the EMF.
