
%0 Journal Article
%A Wilkinson.P.R, . 
%T The use of sampling methods in studies of the distribution of larvae of Boophilus microplus on pastures.
%J Australian Journal of Zoology
%D 1961/10/01
%V 9
%N 5
%P 752-783
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO9610752
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/ZO9610752 
%X Three methods of sampling pasture for larvae of Boophilus microplus (Can.) were tested by traversing plots which had been artificially infested with known numbers of larvae. A wheeled device gave the highest yield, picking up about 5% of larvae encountered, as against 2.5-3% for white cloth leggings and 0.5% for a cotton blanket 18 in. wide.    In a later test in naturally infested pasture there was no significant difference between numbers of larvae picked up by a modified form of a sampling device described by Blagoveschenskii (1957) and the wheeled sampler. However, Blagoveschenskii's sampler was easier to use than the wheeled sampler. The leggings can be used in rough or heavily timbered country which is unsuitable for the other sampling devices.    Further tests indicated that a suitable length for sampling transects is 50 yd, and that it was advantageous to carry out both "forward" and "return" traverses on each transect. There was no evidence of difference in yield between early morning and noon traverses.    Legging samplers, supplemented by blanket dragging, were used to obtain information on the relation of larval infestation to cattle habits in an 80-acre paddock, and to compare infestations on a "creek-bank" and a "hillside" plot, in a 400-acre paddock. It was concluded that:    (1) Larvae were widespread in the pasture and at times abundant even in dry grass on dry soil.    (2) Cattle "camps" may be only lightly infested despite the high number of diurnal "cattle-hours" spent there, and possible reasons for this are discussed.    (3) Cattle do not rest in a fixed locality at night but appear to prefer well-drained areas of pasture, which may become heavily infested.    (4) The grazing habits of cattle, as indicated by dung pat counts, varied with the season in the 400-acre paddock. In the drought of late 1951 heavy grazing of the creek frontage coincided with heavy larval infestation of the creek bank plot.    (5) The wide distribution of larvae reduces the economic feasibility of controlling tick infestations by treatment of pastures with acaricides, particularly where the number of cattle per square mile is low. 
