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.
