Dr. Murai Éva - Gubányi András szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 29-30. (Budapest, 1997)
© Hungarian Natural History Museum Hungarian Society of Parasitologists Parasit. hung., 29-30: 67-74, 1996-1997 Ecological notes on ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected in West Serbia, Yugoslavia M. MILUTINOVIC 1 , Z. PETROVIC 1 , B. BOBIC 1 and i. PAVLOVIC 2 institute for Medical Research, Dr Subotia 4, P. O. Box 721,11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia ^Scientific Veterinary Institute of Serbia, Vojvode Toze 14, 11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia (Received 3 September, 1996) Abstract: Faunistic and ecological investigations of ticks were carried out in 12 places of West Serbia in the period 1989 through 1990. Out of the fourteen species of the Ixodidae family occurring in Serbia, eight species of ticks were recorded in the investigated area. The investigation involved the faunistic composition, relative abundance, population dynamics, and sex ratio of ticks. Temperature, relative humidity and precipitation were also monitored in terms of their respective effects on the dynamics of tick populations. The results indicate a considerable impact on the population abundance of ticks. Key words: Tick, population, temperature, relative humidity, precipitation INTRODUCTION Data on the tick fauna of inner Serbia have been collected since the fifties (Mekuli 1952, K. Petrovic 1955, Z. Petrovic and Simic 1957). These data mostly involve the morphology of the tick species found. From the ecological point of view, ticks have been studied by Milutinovic (1984, 1992) and Milutinovic et al. (1987, 1989, 1995) who discussed the distribution of ticks and the effects of macroclimatic factors on the dynamics of tick populations in Northeast, East and Southeast Serbia. Our research was carried out in those parts of West Serbia which have never been examined for their tick fauna, but which border directly on areas known as enzootic foci of domestic ruminant piroplasmosis. These investigations covered the effects of climatic factors such as temperature, relative humidity and precipitation which usually vary throughout the year. Thus, environmental conditions change seasonally and are characterised by differences in temperature or precipitation. The change of seasons may have an influence on the distribution of diseases and may cause them to appear periodically. The seasonal character is expressed especially by the appearance of arthropod-borne parasitoses, primarily because the population densities of vectors or intermediate hosts vary throughout the year (Mehlhorn 1988).
