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Displacement of Rhipicephalus decoloratus by Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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Abstract

The objective of the study was to establish to what extent the native tick species Rhipicephalus decoloratus has been displaced by the invasive introduced tick, Rhipicephalus microplus at two communally grazed areas in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. To this end ticks were collected monthly from five cattle over a period of 2 years and from 10 drag-samples of the vegetation over a period of 1 year at each locality. Whereas 10 years previously only R. decoloratus and no R. microplus had been recorded in the vicinity of the two sites, R. microplus now comprised the bulk of collections at both. Furthermore, significantly more R. microplus were collected from cattle at both localities during the 2nd year of the survey than during the 1st. In addition to 83 instances of intraspecific coupling, there were 17 instances of R. microplus males coupled with R. decoloratus females. Collections made from cattle and goats on two farms close to the study sites revealed that R. microplus was present on both host species and that it significantly outnumbered R. decoloratus on one of the farms. Rhipicephalus decoloratus and R. microplus larvae as well as larvae exhibiting characteristics of both species were collected from the vegetation.

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Acknowledgments

We express our thanks to the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture for permission for Mr. N. Nyangiwe to participate in the project. Our sincere thanks to Dr. Roy Williams of the ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute for providing the maps and Heloise Heyne, also of the institute, for assistance with recording tick numbers. The participation of I.G. Horak in this project was made possible by a grant from the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Döhne Agricultural Development Institute, Private Bag X15, Stutterheim, 4930, South Africa

    N. Nyangiwe

  2. Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa

    N. Nyangiwe

  3. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa

    A. Harrison

  4. Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa

    I. G. Horak

  5. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9301, South Africa

    I. G. Horak

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  1. N. Nyangiwe
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  2. A. Harrison
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  3. I. G. Horak
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Correspondence to I. G. Horak.

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Nyangiwe, N., Harrison, A. & Horak, I.G. Displacement of Rhipicephalus decoloratus by Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Exp Appl Acarol 61, 371–382 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9705-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9705-7

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