Author(s): Nasser A. Al-Asgah, Fathi M. Diab and Mohammed S. Al-Khalifa
Article publication date: 1990-04-01
Vol. 8 No. 1 (yearly), pp. 169-182.
145
Keywords
goats, sheeps, seasonal changes, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Adult Haemaphysalis (Herpetobia) sulcata (Canestrini & Fanzago, 1878) parasitize goats and sheep at the Al-Sarawat Mountain range of western Saudi Arabia, where the immature stages infest Agama lizards. The infestation of both goats and sheep by H. (H.) sulcata was seasonal and occurred only during the period from October through April, with a peak in December and January. The tick can complete one or, possibly two, intergrading generations per annum and its population seems to be affected by marked seasonal environmental changes. Haemaphysalis (H.) sulcata in the Al-Sarawat Mountains coexists with Hyalomma arabica, Boophilus kohlsi and Rhipicephalus turanicus. Elsewhere in the Kingdom, goats and sheep are parasitized chiefly by R. turanicus, H. impeltatum, H. anatolicum and B. kohlsi