Longevity and Mating Behavior in Males and Parthenogenesis in Females in Hybridized Boophilus Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)

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Abstract
The longevity and mating capacity of 2 types of hybrid male Boophilus ticks were studied on stanchioned bovine hosts. Type I males (B. microplus ♂ × B. annulatus ♀) had a mean premating period of 2.5 (range 1–4) days, whereas the average premating period in Type II males (B. annulatus ♂ × B. microplus ♀) was 3.1 (range 2–5) days. The mean longevity of Type I and Type II males was 32.4 (range 14–59) and 71.2 (range 19–93) days, respectively. Type I males mated an average of 6.3 (range 3–14) B. annulatus and 9.2 (range 4–14) B. microplus females. Type II males mated an average of 26.2 (range 13–34) B. annulatus and 19.1 (range 5–31) B. microplus females. The high number of sterile matings and longer survival time exhibited by Type II males indicated that they would be the better choice in a sterile release program. Unmated hybrid females fed to repletion, but engorgement period was 35 days and repletion weights were reduced, as were egg-mass weights and egg hatchability (10.01%). Therefore, parthenogenesis would pose no threat to a sterile program as an alternate mode of reproduction.