Water immersion effect on reproductive parameters of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus ticks

Abstract

The tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is an important parasite in the cattle raising field due to the economic losses it causes to Brazilian herds. This parasite has two stages of life, a parasitic stage that takes place in the host body and a free-living stage that takes place on soil and vegetation. The water accumulation on the soil has a strong influence in the biology of the Ixodidae, as well as other factors such as temperature and relative humidity. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the possible deleterious effect of water immersion in controlled conditions of R. microplus females. For that, the teleogines were immersed in water for 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108 and 120 hours, according to the treatment. After this part, the ticks were taken to an incubator to finish the egg-laying and hatching. After 30 hours of water immersion, the teleogines had done the egg-laying, however more them half of the eggs did not hatch. After 48h, half of the ticks had done the laying and the hatching rate was lower than 31%. After 84h, there were no more hatching and the treatment had 100% efficacy. After analyzing the results, we can conclude that water immersion for more than 2 hours have a negative effect on cattle ticks reproduction parameters, through alterations in the egg-laying and in the hatching.