Ticks of four-toed elephant shrews and Southern African hedgehogs

dc.contributor.authorHorak, Ivan Gerard
dc.contributor.authorWelman, Shaun
dc.contributor.authorHallam, Stacey L.
dc.contributor.authorLutermann, Heike
dc.contributor.authorMzilikazi, Nomakwezi
dc.contributor.emailivan.horak@up.ac.zaen
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-03T08:52:03Z
dc.date.available2011-05-03T08:52:03Z
dc.date.issued2011-03
dc.description.abstractSeveral studies on ticks infesting small mammals, including elephant shrews, have been conducted in South Africa; however, these studies have included only a single four-toed elephant shrew and no hedgehogs. This study thus aimed to identify and quantify the ixodid ticks infesting four-toed elephant shrews and Southern African hedgehogs. Four-toed elephant shrews (Petrodromus tetradactylus) were trapped in dense shrub undergrowth in a nature reserve in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal. They were separately housed, first in cages and later in glass terraria fitted with wire-mesh bases to allow detached ticks to fall through for collection. Southern African hedgehogs (Atelerix frontalis) were hand caught on a farm in the eastern region of the Northern Cape Province and all visible ticks were collected by means of tweezers while the animals were anaesthetised. The ticks from each animal were preserved separately in 70% ethanol for later identification and counting. The immature stages of five ixodid tick species were collected from the elephant shrews, of which Rhipicephalus muehlensi was the most common. It has not been recorded previously on any species of elephant shrew. Three ixodid tick species were collected from the hedgehogs. Large numbers of adult Haemaphysalis colesbergensis, which has not been encountered previously on hedgehogs, were collected from these animals. Four-toed elephant shrews are good hosts of the larvae and nymphs of R. muehlensi, and Southern African hedgehogs are good hosts of adult H. colesbergensis.en
dc.identifier.citationHorak, I.G., Welman, S., Hallam, S.L., Lutermann, H. & Mzilikazi, N., 2011, ‘Ticks of four-toed elephant shrews and Southern African hedgehogs’, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 78(1): Art. #243, 3 pages.DOI:10.4102/ojvr.v78i1.243en
dc.identifier.issn0030-2465
dc.identifier.other10.4102/ojvr.v78i1.243
dc.identifier.other7102989086
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/16422
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAgricultural Research Council, ARC-OVI and the University of Pretoriaen
dc.relation.requiresAdobe Acrobat Readeren
dc.rights© 2011. The Authors. Licensee: OpenJournals Publishing. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.en
dc.subjectHedgehogsen
dc.subject.lcshAfrican pygmy hedgehogen
dc.subject.lcshElephant shrewsen
dc.subject.lcshHedgehogs -- South Africaen
dc.subject.lcshTicksen
dc.subject.lcshIxodidaeen
dc.titleTicks of four-toed elephant shrews and Southern African hedgehogsen
dc.typeArticleen

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