PARASITES OF DOMESTIC AND WILD ANIMALS IN SOUTH-AFRICA .33. IXODID TICKS ON SCRUB HARES IN THE NORTH-EASTERN REGIONS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN TRANSVAAL AND OF KWAZULU-NATAL

Ixodid ticks were collected from scrub hares (Lepus saxatilis) at thre e localities. Nine tick species were recovered from 24 hares examined at Pafuri, Kruger National Park, Northern Transvaal. The most abundant and prevalent species were Hyalomma truncatum, Rhipicephalus kochi an d a Rhipicephalus species (near R. pravus). Twelve tick species were c ollected from 120 scrub hares examined around Skukuza, Kruger National Park, Eastern Transvaal. The immature stages of Hyalomma truncatum we re most abundant and those of Amblyomma hebraeum most prevalent on the hares. No haematozoa were found on blood smears made from these hares . Thirty-four scrub hares on mixed cattle and game farms near Hluhluwe , north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal harboured 12 tick species. The most abun dant and prevalent of these were the immature stages of Rhipicephalus muehlensi. Piroplasms, tentatively identified as Babesia leporis, were present on blood smears of eight of these hares. The host status of s crub hares for 18 ixodid tick species or subspecies found in South Afr ica is tabulated.