Survival of Strongyle Larvae on Pasture Plots in West Java, Indonesia

Beriajaya 1 and D. B. Copeman 1 1 Research Institute for Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 52, Bogor 16114, Indonesia 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia _____________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: Observations on factors affecting survival of ovine nematode larvae on pasture were made in a lowland wet equatorial climate in West Java, Indonesia (latitude 3S, annual rainfall >3,000 mm). Two shaded and two unshaded pasture plots were used, each plot being subdivided by a lattice of string into 60 subplots of 20 x 20 cm. Ovine feces containing about 2.5 million nematode eggs were uniformly distributed over one shaded and one unshaded plot at the commencement of each trial. The trial was repeated four times, once each 3 months, using a shaded and unshaded pair of plots alternately. Once larvae left the feces their half-life on herbage was about one week. Only a few larvae were still able to be recovered during the wet season six weeks after deposition of the feces and they persisted a few weeks longer during the dry season.