Hard tick fauna (Acari: Ixodidae) in different types of habitats in the city of Osijek (Eastern Croatia)

Abstract

A faunistic study of hard ticks was conducted from February 2019 to August 2019 in seven different habitats in the city of Osijek. In all, 664 specimens were collected and classified into 2 species and 2 genera. Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) is the most abundant species in the studied area with 493 speci- mens, followed by Haemaphysalis concinna Koch, 1844 with 171 specimens collected. The largest number of ticks was collected in July, in the larval stage. Statistically significant differences were observed in the number of specimens with respect to different habitat types and sampling months (p <0.05). The data collected constitute a pilot study of the hard tick population in the city of Osijek, the largest city in eastern Croatia, which is characterized by the largest number of green spaces and parks in Croatia.