Seasonal activity of Boophilus microplus on large ruminants at an organised livestock farm Vatsya Stuti, Yadav C.L., Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, Garg Rajat Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263145, India. Abstract A study was carried out on the seasonal prevalence of Boophilus microplus ticks on cattle and buffaloes from January to December 2004 at an organised livestock farm in Uttaranchal state, India. The study revealed an overall prevalence of 40.67%. Age wise, the cattle and buffalo calves (below one year) were the most affected (65.38% and 59.13%, respectively) followed by grown ups (34.60% cattle and 31.16% buffaloes) and adults (14.91% cattle and 12.28% buffaloes). Though tick activity was observed throughout the year, it increased following rains. Low tick activity was observed in very dry and very cold temperatures. It is suggested that animals at the farm and their premises should be treated with different groups of acaricides once in summer, thrice in rainy and once in winter seasons. Top Keywords Boophilus microplus, Cattle, Buffalo, Rainfall, Temperature, Relative humidity, Acaricide. Top |