The objectives of the study were to determine the species composition of ticks infesting white and black rhinoceroses in southern Africa as well as the conservation status of those tick species that prefer rhinos as hosts. Ticks were collected opportunistically from rhinos that had been immobilised for management purposes, and 447 white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) and 164 black rhinocero...

The tick burdens of 115 Merino sheep, slaughtered over a period of 15 consecutive months on a farm in the north-eastern Orange Free State, were determined. A total of 7 ixodid and 1 argasid tick species were recovered and the seasonal abundances of Boophilus decoloratus, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes, Margaropus winthemi and Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi were determined. One hundred and forty-nin...

We have comparatively studied the dynamics of malaria transmission in the villages of Mokolo-Douvar located in the rural area with traditional agriculture and Gounougou irrigated rice area, in 2004 August and November and 2006 May and October, to assess vectors biting habits, and malaria inoculation rate and malaria parasite prevalence in cohort of children from 0 to 15 years. Mosquitoes were c...

For the first time, confirmed host records are reported for the monotypic Ericrocidini genus Aglaomelissa Snelling & Brooks, 1985. Aglaomelissa duckei (Friese, 1906) emerged from trap-nests of Centris (Heterocentris) analis (Fabricius, 1804) and C. (Heterocentris) terminata Smith, 1874 from two sites in the Brazilian Amazonian region. The parasitism ratio caused by A. duckei was high, varying f...

preliminary study on insects associated with pig carcasses was conducted in Phitsanulok, northern Thailand. Five decomposition stages of pig carcasses were categorized: fresh (0-1 day after death), bloated (2 days after death), active (3 days after death), advanced (4- 6 days after death) and dry (7-30 days after death). The arthropod species collected from the corpses in the field sites were m...

Many animals use pheromone marking as a way to identify their territory or other resources. Among insects, substrate-borne marking is frequently reported for females, which in many species make marks containing oviposition deterring pheromone, which other females avoid. However, there are fewer reports of substrate-borne marking for males. Here marking in males of the parasitoid wasp Urolepis r...

The objective of this study was to assess the host status of the three largest southern African wild ruminants, namely giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis, African buffaloes, Syncerus caffer, and eland, Taurotragus oryx for ixodid ticks. To this end recently acquired unpublished data are added here to already published findings on the tick burdens of these animals, and the total numbers and specie...

Abstract Background Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) represent a significant economic burden to cattle farming in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. However, the northern part of this country, where largest livestock population resides, little is known about contemporary diversity ticks TBPs. This area particularly vulnerable climate change, undergoing marked transformation habitat asso...

YURI M. MARUSIK & MIKHAIL M. OMELKO 1Institute for Biological Problems of the North, Portovaya Street 18, Magadan 685000, Russia. E-mail: [email protected] 2Zoological Museum, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland 3Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa 4Gornotaezhnaya Station FEB RAS, Gornotaezhnoe Vil., Ussuriyski Dist., Primorski...