The tortoise tick Hyalomma aegyptium has a typical three-host life-cycle. Whereas its larvae and nymphs are less host-specific feeding on a variety of tetrapods, tortoises of the genus Testudo are principal hosts of adults. Ticks retained this trait also in our study under laboratory conditions, while adults were reluctant to feed on mammalian hosts. Combination of feeding larvae and nymphs on guinea pigs and feeding of adults on Testudo marginata tortoises provided the best results. Feeding period of females was on average 25 days (range 17-44), whereas males remain after female engorgement on tortoise host. Female pre-oviposition period was 14 days (3-31), followed by 24 days of oviposition (18-29). Pre-eclosion and eclosion, both together, takes 31 days (21-43). Larvae fed 5 days (3-9), then molted to nymphs after 17 days (12-23). Feeding period of nymphs lasted 7 days (5-10), engorged nymphs molted to adults after 24 days (19-26). Sex ratio of laboratory hatched H. aegyptium was nearly equal (1:1.09). The average weight of engorged female was 0.95 (0.72-1.12) g. The average number of laid eggs was 6,900 (6,524-7,532) per female, it was significantly correlated with weight of engorged female. Only 2.8% of engorged larvae and 1.8% of engorged nymphs remained un-molted and died. Despite the use of natural host species, feeding success of females reached only 45%. The whole life-cycle was completed within 147 days (98-215).

Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Palackého 1 3 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

J Med Entomol. 1968 Oct;5(4):429-39 PubMed

Syst Appl Microbiol. 2002 Apr;25(1):146-52 PubMed

J Wildl Dis. 1979 Jan;15(1):15-7 PubMed

Exp Appl Acarol. 2005;36(1-2):131-8 PubMed

Vet Parasitol. 2009 Mar 9;160(1-2):134-7 PubMed

Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2007 Mar;54(1):13-8 PubMed

J Parasitol. 1998 Dec;84(6):1303-5 PubMed

Trends Parasitol. 2007 Sep;23(9):445-9 PubMed

Parazitologiia. 2004 Nov-Dec;38(6):515-23 PubMed

Vet Parasitol. 2003 May 1;113(3-4):289-320 PubMed

Exp Appl Acarol. 2007;43(2):137-46 PubMed

Exp Appl Acarol. 2006;40(3-4):279-90 PubMed

J Parasitol. 2000 Jun;86(3):438-41 PubMed

Vet Parasitol. 2000 Mar 28;89(1-2):109-16 PubMed

Exp Appl Acarol. 2000 Apr;24(4):301-13 PubMed

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2003 Sep;69(3):314-7 PubMed

Parazitologiia. 2003 Jan-Feb;37(1):47-59 PubMed

J Parasitol. 2004 Dec;90(6):1391-3 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2010 Nov;107(6):1515-20 PubMed

Parasitol Res. 2008 Feb;102(3):551-3 PubMed

Stat Med. 1997 Nov 30;16(22):2529-42 PubMed

Exp Appl Acarol. 1997 Aug;21(8):551-9 PubMed

Transstadial transmission of Borrelia turcica in Hyalomma aegyptium ticks