MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND PREVALENCE OF HARD TICKS INFESTING CATTLE OF MARATHWADA REGION, MAHARASHTRA STATE, INDIA P. M. Shirsikar 1 , B. W. Narladkar 1 , N. D. Jadhav, S. R. Rajurkar, S. G. Jadhav 1 , G. R. Channa 2 , S. S. Gaikwad 3 and G. M. Chigure* Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, MAFSU, Parbhani - 431 402, India. Corresponding author - G M Chigure, *e-mail : gajananchigure@mafsu.in (Received 2 April 2023, Revised 15 May 2023, Accepted 28 May 2023) ABSTRACT : The present prevalence study was carried out to identify the common species of hard ticks infesting cattle of Maharashtra state. In the present study, a total 1856 ticks of different stages including nymphal, partially engorged and fully engorged of both sexes were collected from 654 naturally infested cattle of Maharashtra state. The morphological identification of ticks revealed the presence of four different species of ticks i.e., Rhipicephalus microplus, Hyalomma anatolicum, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Haemaphysalis bispinosa. The higher infestation of hard ticks was noted in 1-3 age group of animals and in female animals compared to male. The breed wise analysis of tick infestation revealed the higher infection rate in cross breed animals compared to non-descript/local breed of animals. Key words : Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis bispinosa, ixodid ticks, prevalence, Maharashtra. How to cite : P. M. Shirsikar, B. W. Narladkar, N. D. Jadhav, S. R. Rajurkar, S. G. Jadhav, G. R. Channa, S. S. Gaikwad and G. M. Chigure (2023) Morphological characterization and prevalence of hard ticks infesting cattle of Marathwada region, Maharashtra state, India. J. Exp. Zool. India 26, 2575-2579. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51470/jez.2023.26.2.2575, DocID: https:// connectjournals.com/03895.2023.26.2575 J. Exp. Zool. India Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 2575-2579, 2023 ISSN 0972-0030 DocID: https://connectjournals.com/03895.2023.26.2575 eISSN 0976-1780 DOI: https://doi.org/10.51470/jez.2023.26.2.2575 INTRODUCTION Among the ectoparasites of cattle, ticks of different species have significance due to their vector potentiality and direct parasitism. The direct and indirect effects of tick infestation affect the health and productivity of livestock which results in serious economic losses to the farmer. According to Minjauw and McLeod (2003), the cost of management of tick- and tick-borne diseases in livestock of India is US$ 498.7 million per annum and the economic losses due to tick infestation are primarily attributed to transmission of various infectious diseases (Garcia, 2003). Additionally, ticks are also responsible for depreciation of the value of skins and hides up to 20–30% (Biswas, 2003). Solis (1991) mentioned that the various factors like different agro-climatic conditions, animal husbandry practices, host population, evolution of different tick species and socioeconomic and technological advances in tick management are the major facilitating factors for severity of tick infestation. To control of such an important ectoparasite, a knowledge regarding the prevalence of different tick species, their habitat, and host type of region is important. Although, 106 tick species belonging to 12 genera have been reported from India (Geevarghese et al, 1997).), only few sporadic studies reported the distribution pattern of different tick species of Maharashtra state. Considering the highly favourable environment for the development and multiplication of various hard tick species, the present study was undertaken to know the different hard tick species infesting cattle of Maharashtra state. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area and sample size The identification of major ixodid ticks of cattle was conducted in Maharashtra state. Ticks were collected from organized as well as unorganised farms located in five different regions i.e. , Marathwada, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Konkan and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state. The details of tick collection sites are given in Table 1.