Studies on ticks of Veterinary importance in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract During a two-year study on the tick activity on experimentally and naturally infested pastures in a town in the forest zone of Nigeria, the following observations were made: (1) Ticks were active on vegetation and on animals throughout the year; (2) The larvae of Amblyomma variegatum (Fabricius), Boophilus decoloratus (Canestrini), Hyalomma marginatum rufipes (Koch) and Hyalomma truncatum (Koch) showed bimodal activity with almost equal peaks during the early and late dry months while the larvae of B. geigyi showed unimodal activity with a peak during the early rains. Adults of A. variegatum showed unimodal activity and those of Hyalomma species bimodal; (3) Tick population was highest on pasture during the dry months and least during the period of heavy rainfall. Larvae were predominant in numbers during each of the months; (4) Greatest numbers of ticks were obtained from pasture during the mid-afternoon sampling, at which time temperature was high and humidity was low; (5) There was correlation...