Nellore cattle (Bos indicus) and ticks within the Brazilian Pantanal: ecological relationships.

RAMOS VN, PIOVEZAN U, FRANCO AHA, RODRIGUES VS, NAVA S, SZABÓ MPJ.

EXPERIMENTAL AND APPLIED ACAROLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016 vol. 69 p. 227 - 240

0168-8162

Pantanal is a huge floodplain mostly in Brazil, and its main economic activity isextensive cattle raising, in farms characterized by an extremely wildlife-rich environment.We herein describe tick infestations of cattle and of the natural environment in Pantanal ofNhecola?ndia in Brazil, at areas with and without cattle during both dry and wet seasons.Environmental sampling resulted in three tick species: Amblyomma sculptum (423 nymphsand 518 adults), Amblyomma parvum (7 nymphs and 129 adults), Amblyomma ovale (3adults) as well as three clusters and two individuals of Amblyomma sp. larvae. A significantlyhigher number of adult A. sculptum ticks was found in areas with cattle in the wet season.From 106 examinations of bovines 1710 ticks from three species were collected: Rhipicephalusmicroplus (55.7 %of the total), A. sculptum (38 %) and A. parvum (4.1 %), as wellas 32 Amblyomma sp. larvae. A significant similarity was found between Amblyomma tickfauna from environment and on cattle during both seasons. All A. sculptum females onbovines were flat whereas many of A. parvum females and A. sculptum nymphs wereengorging. Although R. microplus was the most abundant tick species on cattle, overallhighest tick prevalence on bovines in the dry season was of A. sculptum nymphs. Lack of R.microplus in environmental sampling, relationship between cattle and increase in adult