BIOLOGY OF HYALOMMA-SCHULZEI (ACARI, IXODIDAE) ON RABBITS UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

Hyalomma schulzei was reared on rabbits and held under laboratory conditions at 28-degrees-C, 75% RH, and 12:12 (L:D) photoperiod with high productivity. The completion of the life cycle required an average of 107.4 d. The unfed females increased 2.7-fold and unfed males became one-third wider, as a result of feeding. Larvae and females exhibited host-seeking behavior < 1 d after hatching and molt, respectively. The tick behaved as two-host tick species. The larva-nymph attachment period (xBAR +/- SE) was 24.7 +/- 0.15 d and female feeding period was 14.3 +/- 0.33 d. Nymphs molted 24.3 +/- 0.05 d after engorgement, and the percentage of molting was 90.3%. Females began molting from nymphs 3 d before males emerged. A sex ratio of 1.3:1 (male/female) was determined from emerged adults. Females began oviposition 10.6 +/- 0.56 d after engorgment and produced 10,259 +/- 728 eggs per female. Egg hatch was 97.4% +/- 0.75 after an incubation period of 32.3 +/- 0.24 d. Females converted 57% of engorged weight into eggs and produced 6,821 +/- 254 eggs per g of engorged body weight. A freshly laid egg on the first day of oviposition weighed 58.6-mu-g. An inverse relationship between egg weight and rate of egg production was observed.