Vol. 11, Special Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Shaheen Samma, Bhavana Rathore, Kuldeep Fageria and Avinash Chouhan

Abstract:
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the anti-tick activity of commercially available poly-herbal acaricide preparation containing extracts of Eucalyptus globulus, Cedrus deodara, Acorus calamus, Pangomia glabra and Azadirachta indica in a fixed concentration against egg and adult stages of Hyalomma anatolicum ticks. The ticks and their eggs were treated with various concentrations of herbal acaricide (1ml/100ml, 1.5ml/100ml, 2ml/100ml, 3ml/100ml and 5ml/100ml). Poly-herbal product yielded unsatisfactory results with nearly no mortality (0.00) in adult ticks treated with all five dilutions. However, there was slight reduction in egg laying capacity of treated female ticks; the reduction brought by the product at highest dilution of 5ml/100ml was 89.20 mg of egg mass. The hatchability of eggs laid by treated females represented a declining effect, with 34.07 eggs hatched at highest concentration of 5ml/100ml. A good efficiency was reported in hatchability of eggs directly treated with herbal acaricide, at 1ml/100ml concentration only 30 eggs hatched whereas no hatching was observed at 5ml/100ml. The product was found moderately efficacious as well as safe and eco-friendly. Besides the immediate effect on adult ticks, the egg-laying property of the ticks was reduced along with tremendous effect on decreasing the hatchability of eggs treated directly with it.