Distribution and seasonal activity of tick species on cattle in the West Aegean region of Turkey Serkan Bakirci • Hakan Sarali • Levent Aydin • Hasan Eren • Tulin Karagenc Received: 3 October 2011 / Accepted: 6 November 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract The aim of the present study was to determine the identity, seasonal activity and distribution of tick species of cattle in the West Aegean region of Turkey between June 2006 and May 2008. Nine villages within three provinces, viz. Manisa, Izmir and Aydin, were included in the study and a total of 75 animal barns were visited monthly for a period of 24 months and 443 cattle were examined for the presence of ticks. It was determined that 23% of cattle were infested with ticks. A total of 19,679 adult ticks were collected. The most abundant tick species was Hyalomma marginatum (33.5%) and H. excavatum (16.9%) in the study area. Seasonal appearance of the adult ticks varied among species. Adult ticks of the Hyalomma genus were present throughout the year, although in smaller numbers during the winter. Species of Rhipicephalus were detected in all seasons except autumn. Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus was identified in July and August, Haemaphysalis parva was detected during the autumn. Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor marginatus were identified during spring, autumn and winter. The study demonstrated the presence of I. ricinus, D. marginatus, Hya- lomma rufipes and Hae. parva for the first time in the West Aegean region of Turkey. Keywords Cattle Á Tick Á Seasonal activity Á West Aegean region Á Turkey Introduction While feeding on the host, ticks cause direct or indirect problems for animal health and management. Direct problems like skin irritation and anemia occur while feeding on the host. Moreover, they cause serious health problems for domestic animals as vectors of many pathogens (Soulsby 1986) including Babesia, Theileria and Anaplasma spp., which are the S. Bakirci Á H. Sarali Á H. Eren Á T. Karagenc (&) Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Is ¸ ıklı Mevki, 09016 Aydın, Turkey e-mail: tulinkaragenc@yahoo.com L. Aydin Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Uludag ˘ University, Gorukle, 16059 Bursa, Turkey 123 Exp Appl Acarol DOI 10.1007/s10493-011-9502-0