Association of ticks (Acari: Ixodoidea) with rodent burrows in northern Senegal

Four species of ticks were retrieved from burrows of 64 multimammate rats, Mastomys erythroleucus (Temminck), 55-gerbils, Taterillus gracilis (Thomas) or T. pygargus (Cuvier), 13 Nile rats, Arvicanthis niloticus (DeMarest), and five Geoffroy's ground squirrels, Xerus erythropus (Geoffroy) from May 1987 through August 1988 at two study sites in northern Senegal. Ornithodoros sonrai Sautet & Witkowski were recovered from 95% (74/78) of burrows near Bandia and 6% (4/66) of burrows near Yonofere. Eight Hyalomma truncatum Koch, four Rhipicephalus guilhoni Morel & Vassiliades, and one R. sulcatus Neumann were recovered from 144 rodent burrows (nine tick-positive burrows) from both locations. No seasonal trend of tick abundance or activity was noted, nor was any pattern of burrow preference by ticks detected. Rodent burrows in either location appeared to be little used by ixodid ticks.