Identification and behavior of the ticks that affect different genotypes of large livestock in a silvopastoral system

Kirenia Hernández Herrera
Estación Experimental de Pastos y Forrajes “Indio Hatuey” Central España Republicana 44280,Matanzas, Cuba

ABSTRACT
In order to identify and evaluate the behavior of the ticks that affect different genotypes of large livestock in a silvopastoral system, this study was conducted at the Pasture and Forage Research Station “Indio Hatuey”, during the dry season of 2010-2011. For the work, animals of the genotypes F1 (Holstein x Zebu), Commercial Zebu and Buffalypso (river buffalo) were used in a silvopastoral system managed as a unique herd. Two tick species were identified: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and Amblyomma cajennense for the cattle genotypes with predominance in 75 % of the latter species, while in the case of the buffaloes mono-specific infestation by A. cajennense was observed. A low infestation by ectoparasites was found in the animals and in the cattle there was higher invasion intensity than in the buffaloes, while the invasion extension behaved similarly in the three genotypes. It was determined that the perineal region is the one with the highest research value to perform the tick counts. In addition, differences were found in the hair length and diameter, which could have influenced the infestation levels found inter-genotypes. It was noticed that the skin thickness influenced the recovery of ticks in the cattle genotypes. The grazing areas showed the highest infestation levels by tick larvae in November and December and an inverse correlation was observed between the temperature and the quantity of larvae recovered in the pasture.