First report on diversity and relative abundance of questing and feeding hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) of the tribal communities and wildlife in Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary of Western Ghats, Kerala, India

ABSTRACT

The present study is the first report on ticks infesting domestic animals of the tribal communities and wildlife in Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India. Questing ticks in the sanctuary were collected through dragging methods and hand collection from domestic animals was used to collect feeding ticks. Among the total 3,081 ticks collected, 2,350 questing ticks were obtained from the forest floor, and 731 ticks were recorded from 40 different domestic animals belonging to four species. The present collection recorded eight Haemaphysalis species: Ha. spinigera, Ha. leachii, Ha. shimoga, Ha. kinneari, Ha. kyasanurensis, Ha. turturis, Ha. bispinosa, Ha. intermedia and one Amblyomma species: Am. integrum from the sanctuary. Whereas five Haemaphysalis species: Ha. bispinosa, Ha. intermedia, Ha. shimoga, Ha. spinigera, Ha. turturis and four Rhipicephalus species: Rh. sanguineus, Rh. haemaphysaloides, Rh. microplus and Rh. annulatus were reported from domestic animals. High abundance of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) vectors, Ha. spinigera and Ha. turturis have been documented from the sanctuary. Relative abundance of Ha. bispinosa was significantly higher in all the domestic animals examined. Tick infestation rate was higher in goats followed by cows, dogs, and cats. Whereas the species richness of ticks was highest in cows and lowest in cats.

KEYWORDS:

• Ticks
• Haemaphysalis
• domestic animals
• wildlife
• KFD
• Amblyomma
• Rhipicephalus

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to Kerala Forest Department for granting permission and necessary arrangements for the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

All authors conceived the research. Aswathi Rajan conducted data collection, Species identification, statistical analysis, primary draft writing, editing and final manuscript preparation. Reshma Kalarikkal Reghu helped in statistical analysis, and editing. Dr. Prakasan Koyyan performed species identification, review, editing and confirmation of the final draft. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University Grants Commission (UGC), India.