Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 September 2011
A test with 100 nymphs of Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum for evaluation of resistance of cattle to ticks was found to have a good potential for assessing the resistance status of cattle. Thus, 7% of nymphs engorged and moulted on a resistant host with average engorgement weight of 7.6 mg compared to 19 and 45% of engorged nymphs on two susceptible hosts with 15.8 and 13.6 mg average engorgement weights. Similarly, the number of detached fully engorged Rhipicephalus evertsi nymphs dropped from the resistant cows ranged between 14 and 57 compared with 118–124 from the two susceptible animals. The correlations between the three parameters; ranking cattle for resistance (natural tick burdens), the number of detached fully engorged R. evertsi nymphs, and the percentage survival of H. a. anatolicum nymphs after artificial infestation are discussed and found to be significant (r = +0.778; r = +0.886; r = +0.936). It is, therefore possible to assess the overall resistance status of hosts and cull the susceptible, if necessary.