Biodiversity of ticks of sheep and goats in semi-intensive farming system in Vojvodina

Ivan Pavlovic,Ferenc Csordás,Zsolt Becskei,Mila Savic,Violeta Caro-Petrovic,Snezana Ivanovic,Milan Petrovic

doi:10.2298/bah1903267p

Abstract

The present study was conducted in 90 sheep and goats flocks from the territory of Vojvodina in the two years period of March 2016 to October 2017, during the grazing season. Tick infestation was deteected in 53.14% of examined animals. The most dominant was Ixodes ricinus (43.91%), followed by Dermacentor marginatus (31.91%), Rhipicephalus bursa (15.22%), R.sanguineus (8.72%), Hyalomma savignyi (3.72%),, Haemaphysalis punctata (3.21%) and D.pictus (2.72%) . The sex ratio of detected tick species showed a higher number of females in four species (I.ricinus, H.punctata, R.sanguineus and D.marginatus), while higher number of males were detected in two species (R.bursa and Hy.savignyi), and an equal number of ticks of the D.pictus. The population dynamics of recorded tick species showed two annual maxima, in spring (April- May) and in autumn (September-October). The considerable interchange between spring and autumn tick populations can be attributed mainly to environmental conditions.

Highlights

Semi-intensive sheep and goats production is a tradition in the northern region of Serbia (Vojvodina)
The sex ratio of detected tick species showed a higher number of females in four species (Ixodes ricinus, Haemaphysalis punctata, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Dermacentor marginatus), while higher number of males were detected in two species (Rhipicephalus bursa and Hyalomma savignyi), and an equal number of ticks of the D.pictus
Climate conditions have a great influence on the population dynamics of ticks

Summary

Introduction

Semi-intensive sheep and goats production is a tradition in the northern region of Serbia (Vojvodina). Some parts of Vojvodina are abundant in grasslands, especially in the Banat region, where animals grazing is mainly semi-intensive. The rational use of pastures in the period of April-October makes the sheep and goats production sustainable and low input in this period of the year. A diverse tick fauna present in this region mainly influences the health status of grazing ruminants. In the semi-intensive breeding system, which is the most often practice in this region, is very difficult to avoid infections with different types of ticks that are contaminants of the grasslands and pastures (Pavlović et al 2018; 2019). Especially during late spring and autumn months of the year (Harlan and Foster, 1990; Fourie and Horak, 1991; Milutinović, 1992)

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