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Attractive and repellent host odours guide ticks to their respective feeding sites

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dc.contributor.author Wanzala, W.
dc.contributor.author Sika, N. F. K.
dc.contributor.author Gule, S.
dc.contributor.author Hassanali, A.
dc.date.accessioned 2016-04-02T12:59:35Z
dc.date.available 2016-04-02T12:59:35Z
dc.date.issued 2004
dc.identifier.issn 229–232
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2325
dc.description Full text en_US
dc.description.abstract We have studied on-host behaviour of adults of the brown ear tick (Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann, 1901) and the red-legged tick (R. evertsi Neumann, 1897), which prefer to feed mainly inside the ears and the anal regions of bovids respectively. Both species were found to be relatively successful in orienting toward and locating their respective feeding sites from different parts of the host body. Our observations suggested the operation of both avoidance (closer to the feeding site of the other) and attrac- tion (closer to its own feeding site) responses of the ticks. In the laboratory, odour trapped from cattle ears attracted R. appendiculatus but repelled R. evertsi, whereas that from the anal region had an opposite effect. This odour-based ‘push-pull’ pair of stimuli may largely account for efficient orientation behaviour of the two tick species to their respec- tive feeding sites. We propose that such concurrent de- ployment of repulsive and attractive cues may be quite widespread among arthropods and related organisms that specialise on specific hosts or microenvironments in the performance of their biological functions. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, en_US
dc.subject Attractive and repellent host odours for ticks en_US
dc.title Attractive and repellent host odours guide ticks to their respective feeding sites en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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