FAUNA OF ECTOPARASITES OF PREDATORY MAMMALS (MAMMALIA: CARNIVORA) IN UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

The study of the species composition of ectoparasites and the functioning of the parasitic system with the participation of specific groups of vertebrates in certain climatic zones is of scientific and practical interest. In this regard, the clarification of the parasitological situation in predatory mammals in the system "ectoparasites – predatory animals" in the biogeocenoses of Uzbekistan is an urgent task of fundamental and applied parasitology. For the first time, the features of the species composition of the ectoparasite fauna in domesticated (dog, cat) and wild (jackal, wolf, fox, jungle cat) predatory mammals from Uzbekistan were studied. Twenty three species of ectoparasites, mites and insects, were found on the studied predators. Ticks in our material are represented by 14 species belonging to the families Ixodidae (12 species), Sarcoptidae (1 species) and Demodicidae (1 species). The bulk of them are ixodid ticks among which representatives of the genera Haemaphysalis (3 species) and Rhipicephalus (4 species) dominate. The insects turned out to be representatives of five families: Trichodectidae (1 species), Linognathidae (1 species), Pulicidae (4 species), Culicidae (2 species), and Hippoboscidae (1 species). In terms of frequency of occurrence and species composition, fleas occupy a leading position. The number of arthropod species per infected host (for example, dogs) ranged from 3 to 7.