ARTHROPOD PARASITES OF IMPALAS IN THE KRUGER-NATIONAL-PARK WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO TICKS

Adult male and female impalas Aepyceros melampus were examined for ect oparasites at monthly intervals for a period of 17 and 15 months, resp ectively, at Skukuza and north of Malelane in the southern Kruger Nati onal Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa. A total of 34 male and 31 female impalas were examined and Boophilus decoloratus was the most abundant and prevalent ixodid tick collected. In addition to this tick of which both the mean immature and adult burdens were large, the impalas also harboured large numbers of immature and few adult ticks of other spec ies. Comparisons were also made between male and female animals and be tween the two localities for the six major tick species and four louse species collected. Male animals from north of Malelane harboured sign ificantly more (p<0.05) adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus than did fe males from the same locality, which in turn harboured significantly mo re Damalinia aepycerus than the males. There were no differences in th e tick and lice burdens between male and female impalas examined aroun d Skukuza. Significantly more (p<0.05) Amblyomma hebraeum immatures, A mblyomma marmoreum larvae, Damalinia elongata nymphs and adults and D. aepycerus nymphs, and significantly fewer (p<0.05) Rhipicephalus ever tsi evertsi immatures and R. appendiculatus nymphs were collected from impalas around Skukuza than from those examined north of Malelane. In addition the life stage compositions of populations of various ixodid tick species were compared on impalas, kudus, nyalas and cattle from several localities. With few exceptions the cattle harboured greater p ercentages of adult A. hebraeum, R. appendiculatus and R. evertsi ever tsi than did the antelopes, which conversely harboured greater percent ages of immature ticks.