The prevalence and geographic distribution of the fowl tampan, Argas walkerae Kaiser & Hoogstraal, 1969 was determined in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa by inspecting two fowl houses in the vicinity of each of 72 randomly selected communal cattle dip-tanks. Tampans were collected from 102 (70.8 %) of the 144 fowl houses in the neighbourhood of 57 (79.2 %) of the 72 selected dip-tanks, and the localities of the collections were mapped. Argas walkerae was present in fowl houses from the warm coastal regions of the Indian Ocean in the south to the cold and mountainous Drakensberg in the north-east of the Province. Taking into account the probable sensitivity of the sampling method, it is estimated that A. walkerae is likely to be present in fowl houses belonging to between 74 and 84 % of communities making use of cattle dip-tanks in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province, and that when it is present, between 64 and 75 %> of fowl houses will be infested. The geographic distribution of A. walkerae seemed to be more strongly associated with the presence of fowls and fowl houses containing raw or processed wood in their structure than with climate.

The species and distribution of ticks infesting cattle, goats and dogs in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa and Maputo Province, Mozambique were determined from collections made from these animals at 72 localities in the former region and 30 in the latter. Eleven ixodid and one argasid species were recovered in the Eastern Cape Province and 15 ixodid species in Maputo Province. The most common ticks infesting cattle and goats in both provinces were Amblyomma hebraeum, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi. The dominant species on dogs were Haemaphysalis elliptica and Rhipicephalus simus. The geographic distributions of the major species and some of the minor species in both regions were plotted. The partial or complete displacement of the indigenous tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus by the introduced species R. (B.) microplus was a major feature of both surveys.

The species composition and geographic distribution of ixodid ticks infesting domestic dogs owned by people in rural communities and villages in Maputo Province was established by collecting ticks from dogs at each of 27 localities spread throughout the province. Ticks were collected from a total of 132 dogs, and nine species belonging to four genera were identified. One dog was infested with six species, three with five and 13 with four species. Haemaphysalis elliptica followed by Rhipicephalus simus were present on dogs at most localities, and their geographic distribution in Maputo Province has been mapped for the first time.