Rhipicephalus

Rhipicephalus is a genus of hard ticks in the family Ixodidae, consisting of about 90 species. While many species are native to tropical Africa, the genus is cosmopolitan, being found across the world.Olwoch, J. M., et al. (2007). Climate change and the genus Rhipicephalus (Acari: Ixodidae) in Africa. Onderstepoort J Vet Res 74(1), 45-72. Several species are vectors of significant human and animal pathogens.

Morphology Rhipicephalus ticks are commonly called 'brown ticks' as they are mostly brown in colour. Most adult ticks in this genus do not have colour patterns on their scutum (inornate). Many taxa are very similar, without clear distinguishing features. Identification is often further frustrated by intraspecies variation.Beati, L. and J. E. Keirans. (2001). Analysis of the systematic relationships among ticks of the genera Rhipicephalus and Boophilus (Acari: Ixodidae) based on mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA gene sequences and morphological characters. The Journal of Parasitology 87(1), 32. While males are reliably distinct, instar and female specimens are sometimes impossible to identify due to the lack of differential morphological features.

Disease potential Rhipicephalus parasitism is of significant economic, medical, and veterinary importance. Many species are vectors of pathogens of humans and animals, including causing East Coast fever, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis, Boutonneuse fever, Lyme disease, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, NSDV and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever.Rhipicephalus. Tick Identification Key. University of Lincoln. In addition to the infectious agents spread by ticks, tick bites can lead to allergic and toxic reactions.

Some species can cause tick paralysis by injecting a neurotoxin with their bite, such as Rhipicephalus evertsi and Rhipicephalus warburtoni.

Sex pheromone studies A number of Rhipicephalus spp. females produce phenol and p-cresol after being fed for six days. These compounds may act as sex pheromones since these compounds were shown to be the sex pheromone of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus.

Etymology The name Rhipicephalus is derived from the Greek word rhiphis, meaning "fan-like", and κεφαλή, kephalē, meaning "head". The two terms are related to the hexagonal basis capituli of Rhipicephalus.

Species As of 2025, the genus contains 90 recognised species:

Rhipicephalus afranicus Bakkes, 2020 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus Say, 1821 Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann 1901 – brown ear tick Rhipicephalus aquatilis Walker, Keirans & Pegram, 1993 Rhipicephalus armatus Pocock, 1900 Rhipicephalus arnoldi Theiler & Zumpt, 1949 Rhipicephalus aurantiacus Neumann, 1907 Rhipicephalus australis Fuller, 1899 Rhipicephalus bequaerti Zumpt, 1949 Rhipicephalus bergeoni Morel & Balis, 1976 Rhipicephalus boueti Morel, 1957 Rhipicephalus bursa Canestrini & Fanzago, 1878 Rhipicephalus camicasi Morel, Mouchet & Rodhain, 1976 Rhipicephalus capensis Koch, 1844 Rhipicephalus carnivoralis Walker, 1966 Rhipicephalus cliffordi Morel, 1965 Rhipicephalus complanatus Neumann, 1911 Rhipicephalus compositus Neumann, 1897 Rhipicephalus congolensis Apanaskevich, Horak & Mulumba-Mfumu, 2013 Rhipicephalus cuspidatus Neumann, 1906 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus Koch, 1844 Rhipicephalus deltoideus Neumann, 1910 Rhipicephalus distinctus Bedford 1932 Rhipicephalus duttoni Neumann, 1907 Rhipicephalus dux Dönitz, 1910 Rhipicephalus evertsi Neumann, 1897 Rhipicephalus exophthalmos Keirans & Walker 1993 Rhipicephalus follis Dönitz, 1910 Rhipicephalus fulvus Neumann, 1913 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) geigyi Aeschlimann & Morel, 1965 Rhipicephalus gertrudae Feldman-Muhsam, 1960 Rhipicephalus glabroscutatus Du Toit, 1941 Rhipicephalus guilhoni Morel & Vassiliades, 1963 Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides Supino, 1897 Rhipicephalus hibericus Millán, Rodriguez-Pastor & Estrada-Peña, 2024 Rhipicephalus humeralis Rondelli, 1926 Rhipicephalus hurti Wilson, 1954 Rhipicephalus interventus Walker, Pegram & Keirans, 1995 Rhipicephalus jeanneli Neumann 1913 Rhipicephalus kochi Dönitz, 1905 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) kohlsi Hoogstraal & Kaiser, 1960 Rhipicephalus leporis Pomerantsev, 1946 Rhipicephalus linnaei (Audouin, 1826) Rhipicephalus longiceps Warburton 1912 Rhipicephalus longicoxatus Neumann, 1905 Rhipicephalus longus Neumann, 1907 Rhipicephalus lounsburyi Walker, 1990 Rhipicephalus lunulatus Neumann 1907 Rhipicephalus maculatus Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus masseyi Nuttall & Warburton 1908 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini, 1888 Rhipicephalus moucheti Morel, 1965 Rhipicephalus muehlensi Zumpt, 1943 Rhipicephalus muhsamae Morel & Vassiliades, 1965 Rhipicephalus neumanni Walker, 1990 Rhipicephalus nitens Neumann, 1904 Rhipicephalus oculatus Neumann 1901 Rhipicephalus oreotragi Walker & Horak, 2000 Rhipicephalus pilans Schulze, 1935 Rhipicephalus planus Neumann, 1907 Rhipicephalus praetextatus Gerstäcker, 1873 Rhipicephalus pravus Dönitz, 1910 Rhipicephalus pseudolongus Santos Dias, 1953 Rhipicephalus pulchellus Gerstäcker, 1873 Rhipicephalus pumilio Schulze, 1935 Rhipicephalus punctatus Warburton 1912 Rhipicephalus pusillus Gil Collado, 1936 Rhipicephalus ramachandrai Dhanda, 1966 Rhipicephalus rossicus Yakimov & Kol-Yakimova, 1911 Rhipicephalus rutilus Koch, 1844 Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, 1806 – brown dog tick Rhipicephalus scalpturatus Santos Dias, 1959 Rhipicephalus schulzei Olenev 1929 Rhipicephalus sculptus Warburton 1912 Rhipicephalus secundus Feldman-Muhsam, 1952 Rhipicephalus senegalensis Koch, 1844 Rhipicephalus serranoi Santos Dias 1950 Rhipicephalus simpsoni Nuttall 1910 Rhipicephalus simus Koch, 1844 Rhipicephalus sulcatus Neumann, 1908 Rhipicephalus supertritus Neumann, 1907 Rhipicephalus tetracornus Kitaoka & Suzuki, 1983 Rhipicephalus theileri Bedford & Hewitt, 1925 Rhipicephalus tricuspis Dönitz, 1906 Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936 Rhipicephalus walkerae Horak, Apanaskevich and Kariuki, 2013 Rhipicephalus warburtoni Walker & Horak, 2000 Rhipicephalus zambeziensis Walker, Norval & Corwin, 1981 Rhipicephalus ziemanni Neumann, 1904 Rhipicephalus zumpti Santos Dias, 1950

Unrecognised Rhipicephalus hoogstraali Kolonin, 2009

Rhipicephalus sanguineus species complex Rhipicephalus includes a clade centred around the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The taxonomy is currently in flux as phylogenies are developed. The species complex contains 16 known species-level lineages, but these often do not map singularly or wholly onto known species. Some species that are prima facie in the complex are yet to be sequenced:

R. afranicus Bakkes, 2020 - 'Afrotropical lineage' R. camicasi Morel, Mouchet & Rodhain, 1976 R. guilhoni Morel & Vassiliades, 1963 R. leporis Pomerantsev, 1946 R. linnaei Audouin, 1826 - 'tropical lineage' R. moucheti Morel, 1965 R. pumilio Schulze, 1935 R. pusillus Gil Collado, 1936 R. rossicus Yakimov & Kol-Yakimova, 1911 R. rutilus Koch, 1844 - 'southeastern European lineage' R. sanguineus sensu stricto Latreille, 1806 R. schulzei Olenev 1929 R. secundus Feldman-Muhsam, 1952 R. sulcatus Neumann, 1908 R. turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936

Suspect

Rhipicephalus bergeoni Morel & Balis, 1976 Rhipicephalus hibericus Millán, Rodriguez-Pastor & Estrada-Peña, 2024

Subgenus Boophilus Boophilus was once considered a separate genus, but studies in the early 2000s resulted in Boophilus being made a subgenus of Rhipicephalus. Although Boophilus has been included in the Rhipicephalus genus, their morphology is different from the typical Rhipicephalus species.

Notes

References

Rhipicephalus

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