Striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, and other murid rodents as hosts for immature ixodid ticks in the Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

<span>Striped mice, <em>Rhabdomys pumilio</em>, were trapped over a period of 17 months in the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve, and placed in cages, over water, until all the ticks they harboured had detached. The mice were then returned to the reserve. Four ixodid tick species were recovered from the mice of which the larvae and nymphs of <em>Rhipicephalus follis</em> and <em>Rhipicephalus simus</em> were the most numerous. Most larvae of <em>R. follis</em> detached from mice trapped from March to July, and most nymphs in March and from June to September. Most larvae of <em>R. simus</em> detached from mice trapped from December to March, and most nymphs from January to March and during May and June. Seven ixodid tick species were collected from striped mice, house rats, <em>Rattus rattus</em>, vlei rats, <em>Otomys</em> spp. and <em>Praomys</em> sp. captured in the vicinity of human dwellings or animal holding facilities in the Grahamstown district. The striped mice captured in the Thomas Baines Reserve harboured considerably larger numbers of ticks than any of the rodent species in the more urbanized localit</span&gt

Ectoparasite Diversity on Rodents at De Hoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape Province

“…This is evident from the fact that a nymph and four female ticks were collected from four Otomys spp. individuals in the ECP (Petney et al 2004), and from R. pumilio in the present study (a female tick) and previously in the WCP (predominantly female ticks, Matthee et al 2007). …”

“…2). The distribution of I. bakeri is restricted to South Africa and previous records list isolated localities in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and WCP (Stellenbosch) (Walker 1991), and around Grahamstown in the ECP (Petney et al 2004). The present study provides a new locality record for I. bakeri as no records exist along the coastal belt of South Africa.…”

“…Most of the research conducted here to date, has been mainly descriptive, has focused on ticks and been biased by limited sampling (e.g. Horak et al 1986;Horak & Boomker 1998;Petney et al 2004). In an attempt to address the paucity of information Matthee et al (2007) used an intensive sampling approach to record ectoparasite diversity on the four-striped mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio (Muridae) in the Cape Floristic Region.…”

Small mammals as hosts of immature ixodid ticks

“…The immature stages of Amblyomma hebraeum and Amblyomma marmoreum parasitize scrub hares and small carnivores (Horak et al 1995;Horak et al 2000), but are hardly ever found on rodents (Howell et al 1989;Braack et al 1996;Petney et al 2004). The immature stages of I. rubicundus prefer rock elephant shrews and Smith's red rock rabbits, Pronolagus rupestris (Stampa 1959;Fourie et al 1992), and the one-host ticks, Margaropus winthemi and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, are parasites of large herbivores (Howell et al 1978).…”

Diversity of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting cheetahs (Acinoyx jubatus) at three breeding centres in South Africa and activity patterns of questing ticks

“…Various wild and domestic carnivores are the preferred hosts of the adults of H. elliptica, including domestic dogs and cats as well as lions (Panthera leo), leopards (Panthera pardus) and cheetahs (Apanaskevich et al, 2007;Horak et al, 1987;Horak et al, 2000;Horak and Matthee, 2003;Horak et al, 2010). Several murid rodent species are the preferred hosts of its immature stages (Hoogstraal, 1956;Horak et al, 2005;Petney et al, 2004). Although Jacobs et al (2004) demonstrated that this tick can complete more than one life cycle annually under laboratory conditions, they doubted whether this would occur in nature.…”