Abstract
ALTHOUGH bisexual reproduction is usual among ticks, there have been reports of parthenogenesis in various species including Amblyomma agamum1, Rhipicephalus bursa2, A. dissimile3, Hyalomma anatolicum4, Ornithodorus moubata5, and Haemaphysalis bispinosa6; but there appears to be no previous record of parthenogenesis in Boophilus microplus. In fact, it was considered by many workers on the cattle tick in Australia that B. microplus females were unable to complete engorgement in the absence of males, and it was reported7 that female cattle ticks isolated from males in small areas on a sheep by means of repellent barriers did not engorge completely. Furthermore, Riek8 observed that unfertilized female cattle ticks remained attached to mice for considerable periods without engorging. In both instances the subsequent introduction of males led to rapid engorgement of the females.
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STONE, B. Parthenogenesis in the Cattle Tick, Boophilus microplus. Nature 200, 1233 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/2001233a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2001233a0
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