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The sheep ked, Melophagus ovinus L. II. Keds acquired by a lamb from its mother

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

J. H. Tetley
Affiliation:
Massey Agricultural College, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Extract

The daily rate at which a young lamb acquired keds from its mother was studied. Keds applied themselves closely to the skin of the lamb, many on the under, sheltered parts of the body. It is concluded that there was almost completely oneway traffic of keds from the ewe to the lamb. A fall in the rate of transfer of keds to the lamb was attributed to declining frequency of contact between the latter and its mother, associated with transition from a wholly milk diet to one in which pasture became of increasing importance. It was found that during the hours of darkness and some hours of daylight few, if any, keds were acquired by the lamb. Keds tended to accumulate on the lamb in greater numbers during periods of many hours of bright sunshine and little rain than those of few hours of sunshine and much rain. The running totals of keds acquired by the lamb more nearly paralleled the running totals of hours of bright sunshine than other meteorological factors. It is concluded that the connexion was indirect and that sunshine raised the temperature of the fleece of the mother in the regions directly exposed to the rays, causing greater numbers of keds to appear on the surface, so that the lamb was exposed to a risk of heavier infestation. At one stage of the experiment a greater proportion of the males than females transferred from the ewe to the lamb. This is explained in terms of there being a higher proportion of males in the hinder part of the body of the ewe, a region with which the lamb, in feeding, came more frequently into contact. The higher ratio of males to females in the posterior half of the lamb than in the anterior is explained by the more pronounced habit of males than females to migrate through the fleece.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1958

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References

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Tetley, J. H. (1958). The sheep ked, Melophagus ovinus L. Part I. Dissemination potential. Parasitology 48, 353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar