ARS | Publication request: Ticks on Deer and Cattle in the Cattle Fever Tick Permanent Quarantine Zone, 2012

Submitted to: Livestock Insect Worker's Conference Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 25, 2012
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Ticks were sampled from hosts in the cattle fever tick permanent quarantine zone along the Texas-Mexico border on five occasions in 2012. Three sample events involved white-tailed deer populations in Zapata and Starr Counties and two were from a cattle herd in Kinney County. Six species of ticks (n = 2,111) were encountered in the samples including: the cattle tick (Rhipicephalus annulatus, n = 1966), the southern cattle tick (Rhipicephalus microplus, n = 59), the Cayenne tick (Amblyomma cajennense, n = 81), the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum, n = 1), the Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum, n = 1), the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis, n = 2), and the rabbit tick (Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, n = 1). The cattle herd of 52 animals north of Eagle Pass, Texas was inspected on two occasions in 2012. The herd was heavily infested with cattle ticks on both occasions in April (n = 716) and May (n = 1250). A single dog tick was found on each occasion and a single lone star tick was found in April. A deer capture and release was held on three occasions using net guns fired from helicopters. A capture of 30 animals in Starr Co. in March revealed 7 animals with a total of 18 ticks. All were Cayenne ticks with the exception of a single rabbit tick. No cattle ticks were found in this sample. Two deer captures were held in Zapata County in March and April 2012 with 40 deer (11 infested) and 31 deer (16 infested), respectively, for a total of 71 total white-tailed deer inspected of which 27 were infested with a total of 119 ticks. Of the 119 ticks, there was approximately equal numbers of cattle ticks (n = 59) and Cayenne ticks (n = 61) with a single adult Gulf Coast tick also found.