The brown ear tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann (Acarina: Ixodidae) and associated tick species on wild and domestic hosts at Muguga, Kenya.

During a study of an experimental population of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and its transmission of bovine theileriosis to cattle, some supplementary information was obtained on the role of rodents and the small carnivores in the development and maintenance of R. appendiculatus populations. Observations were also made on other common tick species found on these hosts. A total of 530 individual hosts were examined during the 4-yr period, of which the majority included, among the carnivores, the white-tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda), the large spotted genet (Genetta tigrina) and the zorilla (Ictonyx striatus). Among the 482 rodents 95% included Otomys irroratus, Rhabdomys pumilio and Lophuromys flavopunctatus. While all stages of R. appendiculatus thrived on cattle the role of rodents and carnivores was negligible. Similarly, while the other tick species like H. leachi group, immatures of R. hurti/jeanneli group and I. thomasae avoided cattle, they thrived on the carnivores and rodents. However, the adults of R. hurti and R. jeanneli preferred cattle to carnivores and rodents.