One hundred and seventeen scrub hares, Lepus saxatilis, were examined for ixodid ticks in various regions of the Cape Province. They were infested with 18 tick species and the seasonal abundances of the immature stages of Amblyomma hebraeum, Amblyomma marmoreum, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus glabroscutatum and all stages of Rhipicephalus oculatus an...

A comparative phylogeographic study on two economically important African tick species, Amblyomma hebraeum and Hyalomma rufipes was performed to test the influence of host specificity and host movement on dispersion. Pairwise AMOVA analyses of 277 mtDNA COI sequences supported significant population differentiation among the majority of sampling sites. The geographic mitochondrial structure was...

The grasshopper species Orthoscapheus rufipes and Eujivarus fusiformis were analyzed using several cytogenetic techniques. The karyotype of O. rufipes, described here for the first time, had a diploid number of 2n = 23, whereas E. fusiformis had a karyotype with 2n = 21. The two species showed the same mechanism of sex determination (XO type) but differed in chromosome morphology. Pericentromer...

Dutch elm disease is caused by the fungal pathogen Ophiostoma novo-ulmi which is transmitted by the native elm bark beetle, Hylurgopinus rufipes. We have found that four semiochemicals (the monoterpene (-)-beta-pinene and the sesquiterpenes (-)-alpha-cubebene, (+)-spiroaxa-5,7-diene and (+)-delta-cadinene) from diseased American elms, Ulmus americana, synergistically attract H. rufipes, and tha...

A total of 16 genera and 68 species of Chalcididae of Vietnam are taxonomically treated. Thirteen new species are described; the remaining 55 species are keyed, redescribed or provided with a diagnosis. Among these 37 species and eleven genera are recorded for the first time from Vietnam. The thirteen new species are: Antrocephalus neogalleriae Narendran & van Achterberg, sp. n.; Brachymeria ne...

In this study we examined the anti-tick properties of the essential oil of Tagetes minuta L. (Asteraceae: Asterales) against Hyalomma rufipes ticks. We obtained the essential oil of T. minuta by hydro-distillation of a combination of fresh flowers, leaves and soft stems, and analysed these by using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-linked mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oil had a h...

Five species of Taiwanomyrme Tsuneki, 1993 are reviewed; two of them, T. latisquamula Tu, Lelej et Chen, sp. nov. (China: Guizhou) and T. impressoides Tu, Lelej et Chen, sp. nov. (China: Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan), are described and illustrated. Smicromyrme taiwanus Tsuneki, 1993 is proposed as a new synonym for Taiwanomyrme friekae (Zavattari, 1913). A key to males and females of Taiwanomyrme an...

Theridiidae is a derived family within the Araneoidea clade. In contrast to closely related groups, the 2n(male) = 20+X(1) X (2) with acro/telocentric chromosomes is the most widespread karyotype among the theridiid spiders. In this work, the cytogenetic analysis of Argyrodes elevatus revealed original chromosome features different from those previously registered for Theridiidae, including the...

The toxic effects of the extracts of Allium sativum (Garlic) were evaluated against adults of Hyalomma marginatum rufipes and Rhipicephalus pulchellus using three types (Types A, B and C) of contact toxicity bioassays. A. sativum bulbs were extracted with acetone, ethanol and dichloromethane (DCM) solvents. Among these three solvents, it is the DCM extract of A. sativum that appears to have ant...

To evaluate the prevalence of infestation of ectoparasites of horses, a total of 894 horses (367 males and 527 females), aged 1-7 years old were examined. Horses were groomed for collection of ectoparasites. Out of the horses examined, 164 came from Fundong, 80 from Acha, 30 from Fongo-Tongo, 30 from Fokoue and 17 from Dschang, all of which were infested with ectoparasites. Five hundred and sev...