Observations on survival of cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Can.) in North Queensland

Abstract

In a preliminary study of cattle tick survival near Townsville, female ticks were placed in guinea grass tussocks on 14 occasions between July 1956 and July 1957. Weekly observations were made on the development period of the eggs and on the survival of the larvae. The longest survival period from the collection of the parent female ticks to the death of all larvae was 19 weeks. These ticks were put out in March. Egg development period varied from 3 weeks in summer to 10 weeks in winter. In one series the female ticks were flooded for 24 hours and many of their eggs failed to hatch. The relevance of the results to possible improvements in tick control in the Townsville area is discussed.