Spatial Modeling of the Distribution of R. microplus and Haematobia sp. Flies in Maharashtra State though Inverse Distance Weighting

Aims: Spatial model of distribution of two important veterinary pest viz. Rhipicephalus microplus ticks and Haematobia sp. flies in Maharashtra state was prepared.

Study Design: An Inverse Distance Weighting approach was employed for the data obtained through primary survey of insects under study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out during January 2023 to June 2023 covering entire state of Maharashtra in India.

Methodology: Total 143 location points for R.microplus ticks and 31 locations for Haematobia sp. flies in the Maharashtra state were finalized and included in the modeling exercise. These location points were converted to spatial dataframe and imported in R software and processed for Inverse distance weighting by using the precipitation and temperature bioclimatic raster files for the state.

Results: The R. microplus distribution studied using inverse distance weighted interpolations, the model's negative correlation of -0.061 was found to have an acceptable AUC of 0.746, indicating a decent fit of the IDW model. On the other hand, the IDW model was shown to be non-significant with a minimal AUC value of 0.579 in the case of Haematobia sp. flies. Nonetheless, the zonal statistics indicated that around 30% of the state's total area was unsuitable for R. microplus and that 57% was unsuitable for Haematobia sp. flies.