ISSN 2756-3391
African Journal of Parasitology Research ISSN 2756-3391 Vol. 13 (1), pp. 001-005, January, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Evaluating Mortality Rates in Ticks of Economic Significance Induced by Two Formulations of Metarhizium anisopliae
Marius Hedimbi1*, Godwin P. Kaaya2 and Kazhila C. Chinsembu1
University of Namibia, 1Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences,
2Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Animal Science, Private Bag 13301, Windhoek, Namibia
Accepted 11 October, 2024
Abstract
The objective of this study was to compare the infectivity of Metarhizium anisopliae at a concentration of 1 × 108 conidia/ml to developmental stages of Amblyomma variegatum, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi in oil and water formulations. The fungus, M. anisopliae, induced 50-100% mortalities in all developmental stages of the tick species tested. R. e. evertsi was more susceptible to M. anisopliae than the other two tick species. However, there was no clear difference in mortality between fed and unfed instars of different tick species. Furthermore, engorged adults were more susceptible than unfed adult ticks. Oil formulated conidia induced significantly higher mortalities (P<0.05) than water formulated conidia. The results indicate that the type of conidia formulation is critical to the performance of fungi as biological control agents for ticks.
Keywords: Amblyomma variegatum, Formulation, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi.