Cattle grazing behavior regulates tick populations

Summary Analysis of field population data showed that host-seeking larvae of the tickBoophilus microplus were less successful in attaching to their hosts when larval densities were high. Experimental results showed that cattle hosts detected and avoided high densities of larvae in pasture. The finding reveals a previously unknown population-regulating mechanism for ticks, which are important pests of livestock.Acknowledgment. The authors wish to thank G. Maywald, D. Stegeman, R. Tozer, A. Voll, G. Milne and J. Osborne who helped with the observations. The Australian Meat Research Committee (AMRC) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) provided some financial support for the project and A. Edwards assisted greatly with the photography.