A study was conducted to compare the species of adult ixodid ticks on Friesian and Bonsmara cattle and their seasonal dynamics. Between five and ten animals of each breed were kept on natural False Upper Karoo vegetation, typical of the south-western Free State. Between May 1990 and October 1991, the animals were examined once or twice a month for the presence of adult ticks which were removed, counted and identified. Six species of ixodid ticks were recorded. The species composition on the two cattle breeds was remarkably similar. Ixodes rubicundus was dominant (55-57,7% of all ticks collected), followed by Hyalomma marginatum rufipes (28,9-31 ,5%) and Rhipicephalus punctatus (6,2-6,7%). Only small numbers of Hyalomma truncatum, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi and Rhipicephalus gertrudae were recorded. Almost twice as many ticks were collected from Friesian as from Bonsmara cattle. Ixodes rubicundus showed a typical winter-activity period. The other species were either active mostly during the warmer months, or their numbers were too low to determine any seasonal pattern. Apart from information on the diversity of ticks which infest cattle in the region, the study has also shown a greater resistance by Bonsmara cattle (a mixed Bos taurus/Bos indicus breed) to tick infestation. Bos indicus cattle can play an increasingly important role in integrated tick-management practices in southern Africa.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. 
Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Fourie, L.J.

Heyne, Heloise

Kok, D.J.

The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. 
Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.A study was conducted to compare the species of adult ixodid ticks on Friesian and Bonsmara cattle and their seasonal dynamics. Between five and ten animals of each breed were kept on natural False Upper Karoo vegetation, typical of the south-western Free State. Between May 1990 and October 1991, the animals were examined once or twice a month for the presence of adult ticks which were removed, counted and identified. Six species of ixodid ticks were recorded. The species composition on the two cattle breeds was remarkably similar. Ixodes rubicundus was dominant (55-57,7% of all ticks collected), followed by Hyalomma marginatum rufipes (28,9-31 ,5%) and Rhipicephalus punctatus (6,2-6,7%). Only small numbers of Hyalomma truncatum, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi and Rhipicephalus gertrudae were recorded. Almost twice as many ticks were collected from Friesian as from Bonsmara cattle. Ixodes rubicundus showed a typical winter-activity period. The other species were either active mostly during the warmer months, or their numbers were too low to determine any seasonal pattern. Apart from information on the diversity of ticks which infest cattle in the region, the study has also shown a greater resistance by Bonsmara cattle (a mixed Bos taurus/Bos indicus breed) to tick infestation. Bos indicus cattle can play an increasingly important role in integrated tick-management practices in southern Africa.mn201

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Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 63:19-23 (1996) Adult ixodid ticks on two cattle breeds in the south-western Free State, and their seasonal dynamics L.J. FEOURIE1, D.J. KOK1 anaHELOISE HEYNE2 ABSTRACT FOURIE, L.J ., KOK, D.J. & HEYNE, HELOISE 1996. Adult ixodid ticks on two cattle breeds in the south-western Free State, and their seasonal dynamics. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 63:19-23 A study was conducted to compare the species of adult ixodid ticks on Friesian and Bonsmara cattle and their seasonal dynamics. Between five and ten animals of each breed were kept on natural False Upper Karoo vegetation, typical of the south-western Free State. Between May 1990 and October 1991, the animals were examined once or twice a month for the presence of adult ticks which were removed, counted and identified. Six species of ixodid ticks were recorded. The species composition on the two cattle breeds was remarkably similar. Ixodes rubicunduswas dominant (55-57,7% of all ticks collected), followed by Hyalomma marginatum rufipes (28,9-31 ,5%) and Rhipicephalus punctatus (6,2-6,7%). Only small numbers of Hyalomma truncatum, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi and Rhipicephalus ger-trudae were recorded. Almost twice as many ticks were collected from Friesian as from Bonsmara cattle. Ixodes rubicundus showed a typical winter-activity period. The other species were either active mostly during the warmer months, or their numbers were too low to determine any seasonal pattern. Apart from information on the diversity of ticks which infest cattle in the region, the study has also shown a greater resistance by Bonsmara cattle (a mixed Bos taurus/8os indicus breed) to tick infestation. Bos indicus cattle can play an increasingly important role in integrated tick-management practices in southern Africa. Keywords: Adult, cattle breed, ixodid, seasonal dynamics, tick INTRODUCTION Various factors currently contribute towards altering the traditional concept of tick control to one of tick-population management, in which the various eco-logical factors that affect tick populations are consid-ered (Spickett 1994). Knowledge of the species composition and seasonal dynamics of ticks that parasitize domestic hosts, is important for several reasons. Firstly, it provides information on the bur-dens and diversity of ticks that can potentially trans-mit or cause diseases. Secondly, knowledge of the seasonal dynamics provides information essential to the timing of acaricide treatment. Thirdly, it could pro-vide information on host resistance and the ability of the host to harbour ticks which can affect other, per-haps more susceptible, hosts. 1 Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Or-ange Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300 South Africa 2 Veterinary Research Institute, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa Accepted for publication 15 December 1995-Editor Except for a research note (Fourie & Horak 1990) on the parasites of cattle in the south-western Free State and another on differences between Ixodes ru-bicundus infestations on Friesian and Bonsmara cat-tle (Fourie & Kok 1995), no information is available. The purpose of this study was to compare the spe-cies of adult ixodid ticks and their seasonal dynam-ics on Friesian and Bonsmara cattle in the south-western Free State. 19 Adult ixodid ticks on two catt le breeds iii E '2 (11 ... Cl) c. VI ..10: ~ -0 ... .8 E :I c:: c:: (11 Cl) ::iii 60 50 Hyalomma marginatum rufipes 40 30 20 10 0 7 6 Hyalomma truncatum 5 4 3 2 1 0 70 60 Ixodes rubicundus 50 40 30 20 10 0 5 4 Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi 3 2 ' -• 0~~~~--.__.~~~~~~~~----------~~~~~/~--~ 5-.------------------------------------------------------------------. 4 3 2 0 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 M J J A s 0 N 1990 • Bonsmara ..---+ I I I D J F Month M Rhipicephalus gertrudae Rhipicephalus punctatus A M J 1991 J ---+-- Friesian A s I I 0 FIG. 1 Changes in the seasonal occurrence of ixodid ticks infesting Bonsmara and Friesian cattle on the farm Preezfontein (note that no Friesians were available in February and March 1991) 20 MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area The study was conducted on the farm Preezfontein, which is situated 1 0 km from the town Fauresmith (29°46 'S; 25°19'E) in the south-western Free State. The vegetation in the area is defined as False Up-per Karoo (Acocks 1988). A fenced camp on the farm, encompassing 190 ha of vegetation typical of the region, was selected for this study. The camp consisted of flat as well as hilly areas. Survey animals During the period May 1990 to October 1991 , be-tween five and ten Bonsmara and Friesian cattle were examined once or twice a month (except for February and March 1991 when no Friesians were avai lable) for the presence of adult ticks. The animals consisted of heifers and oxen < 18 months old at the start of the survey. During April1991 , the cattle were replaced. Age-and-sex composition was as before. The cattle were restrained in a crushpen equipped with a neck clamp. The body of each animal was carefully examined, visually and by palpation of the skin on both sides, for the presence of ticks. All the ticks were removed with forceps and placed in la-belled vials for later identification and counting. RESULTS Six different ixodid species were recorded on the cattle. The percentage composition of the adult tick species on both cattle breeds was remarkably simi-lar. Ixodes rubicundus, the Karoo paralysis tick, was the commonest species (55-55,7% of all ticks col-lected) on both cattle breeds, followed by Hyalomma marginatum rufipes(28 ,9-31 ,5%) and Rhipicephalus punctatus (6,2-6,7%) (Table 1 ). Almost twice as many ticks (based on relative densities) were col-lected from Friesian as from Bonsmara cattle (Table 1 ). In the case of I. rubicundus, females dominated, and in all other cases, except for R. punctatus, males dominated (Table 1 ). For R. punctatus the sex ratio on both Bonsmara and Friesian cattle was 1:1 . The seasonal occurrence of the different tick species is presented graphically in Fig. 1. H. marginatum ru-fipes showed a typical summer-activity period with peak numbers being recorded during December. In the case of Hyalomma truncatum, no distinctive sea-sonal-activity pattern was evident. There was, how-ever, a tendency for the ticks to be more prevalent on the hosts during spring and mid- to late summer. Ixodes rubicundus showed a typical winter-activity period with peak burdens recorded on the cattle dur-ing May, after which infestation levels decreased stead-ily up to September. Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi ticks showed peaks in infestation levels during the L.J. FOURIE, D.J. KOK & H. HEYNE autumn and spring. During the spring of 1990, infes-tation levels of both cattle breeds with R. evertsi evertsi were very low. Rhipicephalus gertrudae in-fested the cattle from July to April, with peak infesta-tions recorded during September and January. Simi-larly, R. punctatus was active only during the warmer months of the year, with peak infestations recorded during January. DISCUSSION During a previous study on the farm Preezfontein, five different ixodid tick species (Amblyomma mar-moreum, H. marginatum rufipes, H. truncatum, I. ru-bicundus and R. punctatus) and one argasid tick spe-cies (Otobius megnini) were obtained from Friesian cattle (Fourie & Horak 1990). A. marmoreum and 0. megnini, of which only immature ticks were collected during the 1990 study, were not collected during the present study. Conversely, R. evertsi evertsi and R. gertrudaewere collected from all the cattle during the present study, but not from the Friesians during the previous study. In the previous study, the cattle were slaughtered and their skins scrubbed, which made the collection of immature ticks such as A. marmor-eum possible. Immature ticks are difficult to locate with the techniques used during the present study. Furthermore, Friesians studied previously, were raised in kraals where they acquired the 0. megnini infes-tations (Fourie & Horak 1990). This was not the case in the present study, which explains the absence of this tick species. Two tick species, namely H. marginatum rufipes and I. rubicundus, constituted more than 80% of the ticks sampled from the Friesian and Bonsmara cattle. Both of these ticks are of veterinary importance. It is not known whether H. marginatum rufipes trans-mits any pathogenic organisms in the region where the study was conducted, but their bites can cause considerable damage, often associated with second-ary bacterial infections at attachment sites (Howell, Walker & Nevill1983). Engorging female I. rubicun-dus can cause paralysis in game (Fourie & Horak 1987) and livestock, including cattle (Spickett & Heyne 1988). Paralysis of cattle in the southern Free State is not an uncommon phenomenon (Fourie, per-sonal observations 1991 ). A comparison between the relative abundance of ixodid ticks sampled from Angora goats (Fourie & Horak 1991 ), Merino sheep (Fourie, Horak & Marais 1988), and Bonsmara and Friesian cattle (this study) is given in Table 2. All of these studies were con-ducted in the same camp on the farm Preezfontein. Compared with Angora goats and Merino sheep, the cattle were infested with a greater proportion (28,9-31 ,5%) of H. marginatum rufipes ticks. In the case of Angora goats, this tick constituted < 1 % of the ticks sampled. Compared with H. marginatum rufipes, 21 Adult ixodid ticks on two cattle breeds TABLE 1 Total numbers and relative dominance(% of total) of the different ixodid tick species sampled from Bonsmara and Friesian cattle on the farm Preezfontein during the period of study Male ticks Female ticks Tick species No. Mean no./ No. Mean no./ Total % of total host• host• Tick infestation on Bonsmara cattle (n = 231) Hyalomma marginatum rufipes 798 3,45 389 1,68 1187 31,49 Hyalomma truncatum 72 0,31 40 0,17 112 2,97 Ixodes rubicundus 529 2,29 1 546 6,69 2 075 55,04 Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi 70 0,30 33 0,14 103 2,73 Rhipicephalus gertrudae 24 0,10 35 0,15 59 1,56 Rhipicephalus punctatus 117 0,51 117 0,51 234 6,21 Total 1 610 2160 3 770 Tick infestation on Friesian cattle (n = 154) Hyalomma marginatum rufipes 876 5,69 412 2,68 1 288 28,94 Hyalomma truncatum 83 0,54 51 0,33 134 3,01 Ixodes rubicundus 758 4,92 1 721 11 ,17 2479 55,71 Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi 54 0,35 40 0,26 94 2,12 Rhipicephalus gertrudae 92 0,60 67 0,44 159 3,57 Rhipicephalus punctatus 148 0,96 148 0,96 296 6,65 Total 2011 2439 4 450 a Relative density or abundance TABLE 2 The relative dominance (%) of adult ixodid tick species sampled from Angora goats, Merino sheep and Bonsmara and Fries ian cattle on the farm Preezfontein (data from Fourie & Horak 1991 ; Fourie, Horak & Marais 1988; and the present study) Tick species Angora Merino Hyalomma marginatum rufipes 0,69 16,30 Hyalomma truncatum 1,21 0,07 Ixodes rubicundus 34,34 82,22 Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi 0,05 1,00 Rhipicephalus evertsi mimeticus - 2,00 Rhipicephalus gertrudae 0,44 -Rhipicephalus punctatus 63,29 1,37 infestations of the livestock with H. truncatum were light, generally < 4%. In the same region , Kok & Fourie (1995) reported an initial H. truncatum domi-nance early in the season, which soon changed to a distinct H. marginatum rufipesdominance in samples of Hyalomma ticks collected from Merino and Dorper sheep. Ixodes rubicundus was the most abundant tick, infesting both Merino sheep and cattle. However, in the case of Angora goats, R. punctatus was the dominant tick species (63,3%), followed by /. rubi-cundus (34,3%). For both sheep and cattle, the pro-portion of R. punctatus ticks that infested these hosts was< 7%. The other three Rhipicephalus spp. which infested the livestock, occurred in small(< 4%) num-bers (Table 2). The differences in the relative abundance of ticks on the various breeds o.f animals can possibly be attrib-22 Bonsmara Friesian 31,49 28,94 2,97 3,01 55,04 55,71 2,73 2,12 --1,56 3,57 6,21 6,65 uted to several factors. Host preferences of the ticks are important. Furthermore, small ruminants are gen-erally less successful as hosts for adult ticks than are large ruminants (Horak 1984). The distribution of the ticks within the habitat used by the host can also have a major influence on tick-host contact (Fourie & Kok 1992). The seasonal dynamics of H. marginatum rufipes on cattle are similar, both to those previously recorded on Merino sheep at Preezfontein (Fourie eta/. 1988) and to those recorded on cattle in the northern Trans-vaal (Horak 1982). Since the numbers of H. trun-catum ticks collected from the cattle on Preezfontein were small, our records of the seasonal occurrence of th is tick cannot be considered meaningfu l. This is also the case with R. evertsi evertsi and R. gertrudae. All these ticks, however, are active mainly during the warmer periods of the year. From the data presented, it is evident that R. punctatusalso prefers the warmer temperatures of spring and summer. Its seasonal abundance on cattle is fairly similar to that previously recorded on Angora goats (Fourie & Horak 1991 ). The seasonal occurrence of /. rubicundus, whose adults are active during the cold part of the year, is also similar to that recorded on Angora goats (Fourie eta/. 1988) at Preezfontein. From the relative density of ticks collected from the Friesian and Bonsmara cattle, respectively, it is evi-dent that the Friesians harboured almost twice as many ticks as the Bonsmaras. Although the differen-ces in relative density varied according to the tick species, it was always higher on the Friesians than on the Bonsmaras. This is consistent with previous reports which indicate that breeds which show greater resistance to one tick species also express resistance to other species of ticks (Spickett, De Klerk, Enslin & Scholtz 1989; Rechav, Dauth & Els 1990). Various studies have shown that Bas indicus cattle carry significantly fewer ticks than do exotic Bas taurus cattle (Spickett et at. 1989; Rechav, Kostrzeuske & Els 1991; Fivaz, De Waal & Lander 1992) . Crossbred cattle such as Bonsmara (Bos taurus x Bas indicus) carry intermediate numbers of ticks (Spickett et at. 1989). Within the context of this study, pure Bas indicus cattle can play an important role in integrated tick-management practices, par-ticularly against t. rubicundus (Fourie & Kok 1995). Since the chances of an animal becoming paralysed are related to its tick burden (Fourie, Petney, Horak & De Jager 1989; Fourie, Horak & Van Zyl 1992), control should be aimed at reducing the aphagous tick populations (Fourie, Kok, Krugel, Snyman & Van der Lingen, in press) as well as the number of en-gorging females. Th is can be achieved either by chemical treatment, use of resistant hosts and veg-etation management or by a combination of the dif-ferent control methods. REFERENCES ACOCKS, J.P.H. 1988. Veld types of South Africa. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa, 57:1-146. FIVAZ, B. H. , DE WAAL, D.T. & LANDER, K. 1992. Indigenous and crossbred cattle-a comparison of resistance to ticks and im-plications for their strategic control in Zimbabwe. Tropical An-imal Health and Production, 24:81-89. FOURIE, L.J. & HORAK, I.G. 1987. Tick-induced paralysis of springbok. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 17: 131-133. L.J. FOURIE, D.J. KOK & H. HEYNE FOURIE, L.J. , HORAK, I.G. & MARAIS, L. 1988. The seasonal abundance of ixodid ticks on Merino sheep in the south-west-ern Orange Free State. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 59:191-194. FOUR IE, L.J., PETNEY, TN. , HORAK, I. G. & DE JAGER, C. 1989. Seasonal incidence of Karoo paralysis in relation to the infes-tation density of female Ixodes rubicundus. Veterinary Parasi-tology, 33:319-328. FOUR IE, L.J. & HORAK, I. G. 1990. Parasites of cattle in the south-western Orange Free State. Journal of the South African Vet-erinary Association, 61:27-28. FOURIE, L.J. & HORAK, I. G. 1991. The seasonal activity of adult ixodid ticks on Angora goats in the south-western Orange Free State. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 62:104-106. FOURIE, L.J. , HORAK, I.G. & VAN ZYL, J.M. 1992. Seasonal occurrence of Karoo paralysis in Angora goats in relation to the infestation density of female Ixodes rubicundus. Veterinary Parasitology, 41 :249-254. FOURIE, L.J. & KOK, O.B. 1992. The role of host behaviour in tick-host interactions: a domestic host-paralysis tick model. Experi-mental and Applied Acarology, 13:213-225. FOURIE, L.J. & KOK, D.J. 1995. A quantitative study on prepran-dial insemination in the Karoo paralysis tick Ixodes rubicundus (Acari: Ixodidae). Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 9:98-99. FOURIE, L.J., KOK, D.J., KRUGEL, L. , SNYMAN, A. & VANDER LING EN, F. 1996. Control of Karoo paralysis ticks through veg-etation management. Medical and Veterinary Entomology (In press) . HORAK, I.G. 1982. Parasites of domestic and wild animals in South Africa. XV. The seasonal prevalence of ectoparasites on impala and cattle in the northern Transvaal. Onderstepoort Jour-nal of Veterinary Research, 49:85-93. HORAK, I. G. 1984. Cattle, wild animals and parasites-epizootic or delicately balanced ecosystem? In Proceedings of the 13th World Congress on Diseases of Cattle, Durban, September, 1984:390-393. HOWELL, C.J. , WALKER, J.B. & NEVILL, E.M. 1983. Ticks, mites and insects infesting domestic animals in South Africa. II. Descrip-tions and biology. Science Bulletin, 393:1- 71 . KOK, D.J. & FOURIE, L.J. 1995. The role of Hyalomma ticks in foot infestations and temporary lameness of sheep in a semi-arid region of South Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 62:201-206. RECHAV, Y. , DAUTH, J. & ELS, D.A. 1990. Resistance of Brah-man and Simmentaler cattle to southern African ticks. Onder-stepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 57:7-12. RECHAV, Y. , KOSTRZEUSKE, M.W. & ELS, D.A. 1991 . Resist-ance of indigenous African cattle to the tick Amblyomma he-braeum. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 12:229-241. SPICKETT, A.M. & HEYNE, HELOISE 1988. A survey of Karoo tick paralysis in South Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veter-inary Research, 55:89- 92. SPICKETI, A.M., DE KLERK, D., ENSLIN, C.B. & SCHOLTZ, M.M. 1989. Resistance of Nguni, Bonsmara and Hereford cattle to ticks in a bushveld region of South Africa. Onderstepoort Jour-nal of Veterinary Research, 56:245-250. SPICKETI, A.M. 1994. Tick ecology. International Journal of Para-sitology, 24:845-849. 23 

Adult ixodid ticks on two cattle breeds in the south-western Free State, and their seasonal dynamics

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Adult ixodid ticks on two cattle breeds in the south-western Free State, and their seasonal dynamics

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