Predation of free-living engorged femaleRhipicephalus appendiculatus

In experiments done over a period of 1 1/2 years using engorged femaleRhipicephalus appendiculatus tethered in a grass plot, 42% predation was observed in long grass (40–60 cm), and 36% in short grass (6–10 cm). Deaths due to environmental factors were 4.8% and 6.8% in long and short grass, respectively.Six groups of animals were confirmed to be predators of the ticks, namely: ants, spiders, rodents, birds, lizards and shrews.The implications of these results in making tick population models, and the possibility of using predators in integrated tick-control packages are discussed.