Biodiversity, seasonal dynamics and geographical distribution of sheep and goat ticks in Serbia

Abstract

The paper examines the results of the research on the tiny fauna of tiny ruminants in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, made in the period 1989-2019. The research covered all the regions from Vojvodina to Kosovo and included long-term tropical biodiversity studies, full dimorphism and seasonal dynamics of occurrence. During our study we established presence of Ixodes ricinus,I.persucatus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, R.bursa, R.(Boophilus) annulatus, Boophilus calcaratus, Dermacentor marginatus, D.recticulatus, Haemophysalis punctata, Ha.inermis, Ha.sulcata, Hyalomma savignyi,Hy. marginatum marginatum and Hy.detritium. The sex ratio of ixodid species was in favor of females and was 61.02%: 38.98%. More males than females (65.08%: 34.92%) were observed only in the species Rhipicephalus bursa. For the two most commonly found species of Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Ixodes castor, this ratio was 69.50%: 30.50% and 63.42%: 36.58%, in favor of females.