Ticks from cattle were collected for the purposes of quantifying the number of tick species and their relative abundance at Msekera Regional Research Station. Fifteen species were recorded. It was found that although different species of ticks parasitized cattle throughout the year, their peaks of abundance were dependent on the season. The majority of the species had their peaks during the wet season (November to April). Rhipicephalus punctatus (Warburton) was found to be the most abundant species followed by Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (Neumann) and Amblyomma variegatum (Fabricius). Haemaphysalis leachi (Audouin) and Rhipicephalus turanicus (Morel and Vassileades) were least abundant. The findings are discussed in relation to seasonal vector abundance and disease transmission, the problems of chemical control of a multi-species tick population and climatic influence on general tick population dynamics.

Ticks were collected for comparative observations on their occurrence between host groups at Msekera Regional Research Station, Chipata, in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Ticks from cattle (domestic animals) were collected throughout the year. These were compared with ticks collected from rodents (wild animals) in the same cattle pastures. It was found that tick numbers parasitizing these host groups differ with the seasons of the year. Rodents were heavily infested during the dry season (June to October), while ticks were found parasitizing cattle in low numbers during this season. By contrast, ticks infested cattle heavily during the wet season (November to April), while rodents were lightly infested.