A history of the introduction, establishment, dispersal and management ofHaemaphysalis longicornisNeumann, 1901 (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in New Zealand

The earliest concerns New Zealand farmers had about ticks are chronicled here, together with the eventual invasion and establishment ofHaemaphysalis longicornis, which, still today, remains the only livestock tick parasite in this country. Early attempts, legislative and practical, to restrict the spread of the tick, and later attempts to manage a permanent problem are presented and discussed. Brief biographies of many of the main persons mentioned in this history are presented in an Appendix, as is a reconsideration of how the tick may have arrived.