Course of mallophagan invasion in Black-and-White Lowland and Polish Red cows during the alcove breeding period.

摘要

Studies were carried out in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 on 28-53 Black-and-White (BWL) and 50-61 Polish Red (PR) cows, respectively. Hair from the base of tail and neck was combed once a month from October to April. Samples were weighed in the laboratory, the material was divided into portions and, using a magnifying glass, mallophagans and their eggs were counted. The intensity of the invasion was determined based on the weight of collected hair and number of parasites and eggs. It was determined that the extent of Bovicola bovis invasion was higher in BWL cows. The lowest number of infested animals in both groups was observed in October and April. The peak of invasion occurred in January. In the hair of PR cows, there was a small number of adult mallophagans from October to December but this number increased in January and March to 0.75 and 1 specimen/200 mg of hair, respectively. Similarly, during the same time period, the number of adult B. bovis was insignificant (0.1-0.25) in BWL cows but from December it increased to 2.0, 2.95 and 3.05 parasites/200 mg of hair in January, February and March, respectively. The peak of egg production by B. bovis females on both breeds of cows was in January and March and the number of immature mallophagans was similar to that of adults. It was ascertained that larvae did not hatch from all the eggs. In BWL cows, in October, January and March, 0.3 larvae hatched per egg and in December, February and April, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.4 larvae hatched per egg, respectively. In PR cows, considerably fewer larvae hatched (0.2-0.66). The results indicate the different susceptibility of the studied cow breeds to B. bovis infestation. It is considered that the longer hair of BWL cows and their susceptibility to dandruff create more favourable conditions for B. bovis..