La hard dog and cat tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille (Arachnida: Acari: Ixodidae) and a hematophagous parasite of animals preferably with fur with worldwide distribution. It settles on these animals by attaching itself to the skin and carries out its life cycle by feeding and reproducing.
Rhipicephalus sanguineus is well adapted to both rural and urban environments (Szabo et al., 2001). Among the many species of ticks that can be carried into the home by animals, most cannot complete their life cycle indoors, while R. sanguineus it can complete its entire life cycle both indoors and outdoors but it is predominantly an endophilic tick, although its seasonality and distribution are influenced by temperature, relative humidity (RH) and host availability (Sonenshine, 1993).
Il global warming could result in a northward expansion of ticks belonging to the R. sanguineus group (Estrada-Pena & Venzal, 2007; Gray et al., 2009) and, perhaps, some alterations in their behavioral patterns. This tick determines infestations in kennels and populations can be established even in colder climates (Dantas-Torres 2008) although experimental evidence has indicated that, when exposed to higher temperatures, R. sanguineus will more easily seek blood from humans (Parola et al., 2008).
The management of this tick is also important because it is vector of numerous pathogens which cause diseases in dogs and also in humans such as Rickettsia, Yersinia, Babesia canis, Babesia gibsoni and also Anaplasma platys and Leishmania infantum (Coutinho et al., 2005).
To reduce the population of this parasite, containing blood meals and thus reducing the infesting potential, as well as limiting the discomfort caused to pets, it is useful to have available repellents that are not harmful to the animals themselves.
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