Cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus annulatus (Acari: Ixodidae), and the quest for discovery of its natural enemies in the Balkan Region

Authors: KASHEFI, JAVID - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL); DEMIR, S - Ege University; Goolsby, John; Smith, Lincoln; CHASKOPOULOU, ALEXANDRA - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL)

Submitted to: International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/11/2017
Publication Date: 9/18/2017
Citation: Kashefi, J., Demir, S., Goolsby, J., Smith, L., Chaskopoulou, A. 2017. Cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus annulatus (Acari: Ixodidae), and the quest for discovery of its natural enemies in the Balkan Region.5th International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods, Langkawi Island, Malaysia, Sept. 11-16, 2017. pp. 327-329.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus annulatus (CFT), is a hard tick native to the Mediterranean region that is invasive in the southwestern USA. The tick is known to develop on cattle and white tailed deer, and it transmits two lethal diseases, piroplasmosis and babesiosis. Extensive use of acaricides to maintain a tick-free quarantine zone in Texas is leading to increased resistance, so there is a need to find a more sustainable control strategy. A classical biological control project has begun to explore for prospective natural enemies of CFT. Special attention is given to the Balkan region for discovery of natural enemies since molecular genetic analysis of CFT showed that the Texas population is similar to those of Bulgaria and Romania. Extensive travelling and cooperation with various institutions and small family farms which are not using any acaricidae in Greece, Turkey, Albania and Bulgaria resulted in creation of a wide network of sites to sample for natural enemies of ticks. Classical biocontrol using specialist parasitoids, predators or nematodes from the native range of CFT could complement existing control strategies.