In-vitro evaluation of the herbal acaricide product against the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (B.) microplus (Acarina: Ixodidiae)

The present research was conducted at Parbhani district of Maharashtra to evaluate the Anti-tick efficacy of the herbal acaricide product containing Neem oil, Karanj oil, Eucalyptus oil, Rohit Gawash and Karpura against egg and adult stages of Rhipicephalus (B.) microplus 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. The treated female Rhipicephalus (B.) microplus ticks which were not died were separately maintained for eggs collection and waited for their hatchability. In the concentration above 1.5ml/100ml, all the treated ticks in 10 tubes died indicating 100% mortality. Hence no question about the recording the egg laying capacity and was considered as nil, while control group laid eggs to the extent of 934.29 per female. The treated females laid eggs very meager in number and amongst them very few have hatched. Herbal product had good efficacy against egg and adult stage of R. (B.) microplus and can form an alternative against chemical acaricide in the integrated tick management programmes.