Species and stage diversity of ticks collected on different mammals

Abstract

Ticks play an important role in human and veterinary medicine, in particular due to their ability to transmit a wide spectrum of pathogenic micro-organisms of protozoal, rickettsial, bacterial and viral origin. Ticks are sucking blood parasites which attach firmly to the skin. They feed on the blood of humans and other terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles and, rarely, amphibians. Ticks are closely related to mites and more distantly to spiders and scorpions. The only parasitic members of the class Arachnida are the ticks and some of the mites. The basic life stages of ticks are larva, nymph and adult (male and female). The adults and nymphs have four pair of legs, but larvae have only three pairs [1]. Most of ticks are three host parasites and feed on different host species. Larvae and nymphs feed on rodents, insectivores, reptiles and birds; adults feed on medium to large wild and domestic animal. The aim of this study was to investigate species and stage diversity of ticks collected on different mammals.