Molecular detection of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and Haemaphysalis species infesting cattle from different agro climatic zones of Mizoram

Abstract

The present study describes morphological and molecular detection of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and Haemaphysalis spp. Infesting cattle from different agro climatic zones of Mizoram. Microscopy study of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus revealed hexagonal basis capitulum in both sexes, shorter mouth parts and absence of festoons on the posterior border. Morphologically, the mouthparts of Haemaphysalis spp. showed laterally projected conical palps. They were without any coloration and there were no eyes but presence of festoons on the posterior regions. The morphological features of both genera were further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which selectively amplified a fragment length of about 400 bp for Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and about 376 bp for Haemaphysalis species. It seems that cattle can be infested by both species in Mizoram.