Title : Habitat characteristics and tick diversity: A focus on invasive tick, Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) impacting communal grazing cattle in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Abstract:
Climate changes and habitats are the major factors affecting the distribution of ticks. The objective of this study was to establish the seasonal abundance and species composition of ixodid ticks under different habitats. Adult ticks were collected using an unsharpened forceps from two communal cattle diptanks representing two different habitat types: Wesley community under Albany Coastal Belts (ACB) and Gcinisa community under the Great Fish Thickets (GFT). A total of 9193 ticks were collected from cattle in the study sites. Six tick species were registered from five genera including Boophilus, a subgenus of Rhipicephalus. The tick species, in decreasing order of relative abundance, were: Rhipicephalus microplus (49.67 %), Amblyomma hebraeum (17.76 %), R. evertsi evertsi (10. 76 %), R. appendiculatus (9.70 %), R. decoloratus (7.52 %) and Hyalomma rufipes (4.59 %). The A. hebraeum male ticks were significantly higher (P < 0.05) during summer (2.72±0.194) and spring (2.47±0.194) at ACB. Hyalomma rufipes, both male and female ticks had higher counts (2.22±0.140) and (1.94±0.124) respectively in GFT during the summer season and were absent in ACB in all seasons. Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and R. evertsi evertsi had no significant difference (P>0.05) at both localities across all seasons. Comparison on R. (Boophilus) spp. during the 12- month study period showed that R. microplus (86.14 %) partial displaced the R. decoloratus (13.14 %). Rhipicephalus microplus recorded higher prevalences (>80%) in ACB and GFT habitat types while R. decoloratus (<20%) was less prevalent at these habitats. Moreover, R. microplus female ticks had high counts (4.57±0.215) during the summer season and male ticks during the summer and autumn seasons (4.14±0.210) and (3.14±0.210) respectively in ACB compared to GFT. Generally, lower tick counts were observed for the R. decoloratus but ACB had a high count of R. decoloratus female ticks during the summer season (2.18±0.167) and male during the spring and summer seasons (1.99±0.147) and (1.90±0.147) respectively. Within the context of this study, the results demonstrate that habitat type as in ACB can influence tick infestation on host, which can play a fundamental role in disease dynamics.
