Studies on Some Ecological Aspects of Tick West Azarbidjan, Iran

Abstract

Abstract Rahbari, S. 1995. Studies on some ecological aspects of tick fauna of west Azarbidjan, Iran. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 7: 189–194. The study on tick population of sheep, goat and cattle was conducted in six villages of northwest of Iran. Out of the nine species of ixodid ticks recorded, Ornithodorua lohorxmsis was the only argasid tick, which infested sheep, goat and cattle. The prevalence of tick infestation on sampled animals was 55%, 57% and 62% in sheep, goat and cattle respectively. The comparative tick yield obtained from different species of animals in each of the six villages showed no significant difference within mean tick number, however, the predilection site of ticks per animal showed the largest number on head, axilla and groin. The seasonal distribution of tick indicated that hard ticks were apparently found throughout the year, but were more abundant in spring and least in autumn. Whereas, soft ticks were observed only during autumn up to late winter. The maximum tick count per animal was 21–50 when microhabitat determined at 10–20C and 50–70% relative humidity.