ANT PREDATION ON DIFFERENT LIFE STAGES OF 2 AUSTRALIAN TICKS

Laboratory colonies of Rhytidoponera ants were allowed to prey on the fed and unfed stages of the Australian ticks Aponomma hydrosauri and A mblyomma limbatum. The unfed tick stages had a higher survival than th e fed stages. The ants took longer to handle the adult ticks than the nymphs and longer to handle the nymphs than the larvae. The ants also took longer to handle the unfed than fed nymphs, but longer to handle the fed than unfed females. As well as the differences between the tic k stages, there was a species effect, with the ants taking longer to h andle A. limbatum, and with that tick species having a higher survival than A. hydrosauri after ant predation. These stage and species diffe rences may influence the tick population dynamics.