Ixodid ticks and lice infesting red duikers and bushpigs in north-eastern Natal

Abstract

Eighteen red duikers, Cephalophus natalensis, from the Charters Creek Nature Reserve and 2 from Fanies Island Nature Reserve were processed for arthropod parasite recovery. They harboured 8 species of ixodid ticks and 2 lice species. All were infested With Haemaphysalis parmata and the nymphs of Rhipicephalus muehlensi. Two bushpigs, Potamochoerus porcus, from the Ndumu Nature Reserve, 5 from the Eastern Shores Nature Reserve and 1 from Cape Vidal were examined for ectoparasites. They were infested with 8 ixodid tick species, of which Rhipicephalus maculatus was the most abundant, and with 1 louse species.