TICKS OF DOMESTIC-ANIMALS IN THE MACEDONIA REGION OF GREECE

A study was carried out on ticks of domestic animals in the Macedonia region of Greece. During 1983-1986, 11-620 tick specimens, belonging t o 18 species and subspecies, were collected from cattle, sheep, goats and dogs, in 64 localities throughout Macedonia. Rhipicephalus bursa, the most common tick, and Hyalomma marginatum marginatum occurred in a ll bioclimatic zones, as well as the two one-host ticks, Boophilus ann ulatus and H. detritum scupense, which were present in fewer localitie s. R. turanicus, R. sanguineus, Ixodes gibbosus and H. anatolicum exca vatum occurred essentially in the mesomediterranean bioclimatic zone. I. ricinus, Dermacentor marginatus and Haemaphysalis ticks (Hm. inermi s, Hm. punctata, Hm. sulcata, Hm. parva) were found frequently in the biotopes of the attenuated mesomediterranean and submediterranean bioc limates. Rhipicephalus adults and the two-host Hyalomma ticks were act ive in the spring-summer period. Ixodes spp., Haemaphysalis spp., D. m arginatus, as well as H. detritum scupense and the immature stages of R. bursa appeared during autumn and winter. Hyalomma and Boophilus tic ks fed mainly on cattle. R. sanguineus almost exclusively parasitized dogs, which were also the only hosts from which I. hexagonus has been collected. The infestations were generally weak or moderate. Few heavy infestations were observed on cattle, especially in autumn. Most of t he tick species showed a strong preference for some particular sites o n the vertebrate body. This predilection could vary according to the h ost species.