''Otobius'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

in the soft-bodied

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

family,

Argasidae The Argasidae are the family of soft ticks, one of the three families of ticks. The family contains 193 species, although the composition of the genera is less certain, and more study is needed before the genera can become stable. The currently a ...

. While similar to the genus ''

Ornithodoros ''Ornithodoros'' is a genus in the soft-bodied tick family, Argasidae. It is distinguished from other genera in the family by the absence of a lateral 'suture' line. It is the largest genus within Argasidae, consisting of approximately 130 specie ...

'' it is characterized by a

vestigial Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on co ...

hypostome in adults, despite being developed in nymphs, in addition to the absence of both eyes and hood.

Species

Three species of ''Otobius'' are recognized.''Otobius'' N.Banks, 1912 in GBIF Secretariat (2017). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2019-01-22.Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2019. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Otobius/classification/ *'' Otobius lagophilus'' Cooley & Kohls, 1940 *'' Otobius megnini'' Dugès, 1883 *'' Otobius sparnus'' Kohls & Clifford, 1963

References

Acari genera Argasidae {{acari-stub