Abstract This study was made to determine the population of ticks in infected cattle and attemping to identify the tick vectors of bovine theileriosis in an endemic area of Iran from 1998 to 1999. A total of 120 suspected cattle to theileriosis were clinically examined and investigated for presence of Theileria annulata in appropriate blood smears and any tick species on body of cattle. In this study, 680 ticks were collected from 107 cattle infected with Theileria annulata. The prevalence of ticks infesting cattle was 92.35% Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum, 5.14% Hyalomma marginatum marginatum, 1.17% Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum and 1.32% Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The examination of 510 tick salivary glands revealed that 51 % of H.a.excavatum and 1.3% of H .a. asiaticum were infected with sporozoites of Theileria annulata.

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