Sugar preferences and xylose metabolism of a mammal pollinator, the Namaqua rock mouse (Aethomys namaquensis).

Physiological and microbiological studies of nectar xylose metabolism in the Namaqua rock mouse, Aethomys namaquensis (A

Small mammals as hosts of immature ixodid ticks.

Two hundred and twenty-five small mammals belonging to 16 species were examined for ticks in Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces, South Africa, and 18 ixodid tick species, of which two could only be identified to genus level, were recovered. Scrub hares, Lepus saxatilis, and Cape hares, Lepus capensis, harboured the largest number of tick species. In Free State Province Namaqua rock mi...

Habitat-specific shaping of proliferation and neuronal differentiation in adult hippocampal neurogenesis of wild rodents

Daily life of wild mammals is characterized by a multitude of attractive and aversive stimuli. The hippocampus processes complex polymodal information associated with such stimuli and mediates adequate behavioral responses. How newly generated hippocampal neurons in wild animals contribute to hippocampal function is still a subject of debate. Here, we test the relationship between adult hippoca...

Differential feeding success of two economically important tick species Rhipicephalus warburtoni and Ixodes rubicundus on two sympatric small mammal species Micaelamys namaquensis and Elephantulus myurus

Rodents are recognised as important hosts of ixodid ticks and as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens across the world. Sympatric insectivores are inconspicuous and often overlooked as hosts of ticks and reservoirs of disease. Elephant shrews or sengis of the order Macroscelidea are small insectivores that often live in sympatry with rodents in South Africa. Sengis are invariably parasitised by l...

Natural hosts of the larvae of Nuttalliella sp. (N. namaqua?) (Acari: Nuttalliellidae).

The first collection of unengorged and fully engorged larvae of Nuttalliella sp. (N. namaqua?) from the murid rodents Micaelamys namaquensis, Aethomys chrysophilus and Acomys spinosissimus in Limpopo Province and from M. namaquensis in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, is documented. A total of nine larvae were collected from two M. namaquensis in the Soutpansberg mountain range in t...