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An updated list of the ticks of Ghana and an assessment of the distribution of the ticks of Ghanaian wild mammals in different vegetation zones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Y. Ntiamoa-Baidu ,
C. Carr-Saunders ,
B.E. Matthews ,
P.M. Preston  and
A.R. Walker
Y. Ntiamoa-Baidu
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
C. Carr-Saunders
Affiliation:
Institute for Cell, Animal and Population Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JT, Scotland
B.E. Matthews
Affiliation:
Institute for Cell, Animal and Population Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JT, Scotland
P.M. Preston
Affiliation:
Institute for Cell, Animal and Population Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JT, Scotland
A.R. Walker
Affiliation:
Department of Tropical Animal Health, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, RoslinEH25 9RG, Scotland
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Abstract

Twenty one species of ticks belonging to five genera of the family Ixodidae (Order Acari, sub-order Ixodida) – Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus (including the sub-genus Rhipicephalus (Boophilus)) – were collected from 1260 mammals, representing 29 species, 14 families and 6 orders, in four vegetation zones in Ghana during the period 1971–1978. Four other species were collected from humans in 1977. In all, eight species appeared to be new records for Ghana: Amblyomma tholloni Neumann; Dermacentor circumguttatus Neumann; Haemaphysalis houyi Nuttall & Warburton; Ixodes loveridgei Arthur; Ixodes oldi Nuttall; Ixodes vanidicus Schultze; Rhipicephalus complanatus Neumann; Rhipicephalus cuspidatus Neumann. The updated list of tick species in Ghana given here includes 41 species of ixodid ticks and four species of argasid ticks. Most species have been found in neighbouring regions of West Africa but 56 of the 121 different combinations of ixodid tick species and host species found in the collection described here have not apparently been reported before. The new combinations recorded here bring the total number of different combinations of ixodid tick species and mammalian host species now reported in Ghana to 151. The tick species found on wild mammals in Ghana mostly differed from those reported from domestic stock by other authors. The data showed that different tick species occurred in different vegetation zones and that most species displayed a pronounced preference for certain groups of related host species. Some tick species were found in the savanna feeding mainly on large bovids and/or suids; others were found in forests feeding mainly on small bovids, large rodents or small carnivores.

Type
Review Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , June 2004 , pp. 245 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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