Rhipicephalus

''Rhipicephalus'' is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks, consisting of about 74 or 75 species. Most are native to tropical Africa.Olwoch, J. M., et al. (2007)
Climate change and the genus ''Rhipicephalus'' (Acari: Ixodidae) in Africa.
''Onderstepoort J Vet Res'' 74(1), 45-72.

''Rhipicephalus'' ticks are commonly called 'the brown tick' as they are mostly brown in colour. Most adult ticks in this genus do not have colour patterns on their scutum (inornate). This makes the species difficult to distinguish from one another because most are quite similar, but individuals of one particular species can be quite variable.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. Ticks have traditionally been identified by examination of distinctive morphological features. Most of the characteristics used to identify species pertain to male specimens. The immature and female specimens are sometimes simply impossible to identify due to the lack of differential morphological features.

Many ''Rhipicephalus'' spp. are of economic, medical, and veterinary importance because of their blood feeding lifestyle. They are possible vectors of many pathogens in humans and animals. They can transmit pathogens that cause animal and human diseases, such as East Coast fever, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis, Boutonneuse fever, Lyme disease, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever. In addition to the infectious agents spread by ticks, tick bites can lead to allergic and toxic reactions. A toxic reaction occur when they inject a neurotoxin with their bite that leads to tick-caused paralysis.

''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.

Species familiar in the domestic environment include the brown dog tick (''R. sanguineus'').

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''.

Epidemiology

''Rhipicephalus bursa'' is a carrier of babesiosis, theileriosis and anaplasmosis in domestic animals, of the Nairobi sheep disease, and an aggressive vector of the agents of the Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever and of the Q fever.

Species

* ''Rhipicephalus appendiculatus'' Neumann 1901 – brown ear tick
* ''Rhipicephalus aquatilis'' Walker, Keirans & Pegram, 1993
* ''Rhipicephalus armatus'' Pocock, 1900
* ''Rhipicephalus arnoldi'' Theiler & Zumpt, 1949
* ''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 complanatus'' Neumann, 1911
* '' Rhipicephalus compositus'' Neumann, 1897
* '' Rhipicephalus congolensis'' Apanaskevich, Horak & Mulumba-Mfumu, 2013Apanaskevich, D. A., et al. 2013
A new species of ''Rhipicephalus'' (Acari: Ixodidae), a parasite of Red River hogs and domestic pigs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
''Journal of Medical Entomology'' 50(3), 479-84.
* '' Rhipicephalus cuspidatus'' Neumann, 1906
* '' Rhipicephalus 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 gertrudae'' Feldman-Muhsam, 1960
* '' Rhipicephalus glabroscutatum'' Du Toit, 1941
* '' Rhipicephalus guilhoni'' Morel & Vassiliades, 1963
* '' Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides'' Supino, 1897
* '' Rhipicephalus hoogstraali'' Kolonin, 2009
* '' Rhipicephalus humeralis'' Rondelli, 1926
* ''Rhipicephalus hurti'' Wilson, 1954
* '' Rhipicephalus interventus'' Walker, Pegram & Keirans, 1995
* '' Rhipicephalus jeanneli'' Neumann 1913
* '' Rhipicephalus kochi'' Dönitz, 1905
* '' 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 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 sanguineus'' Latreille, 1806 – brown dog tick
* '' Rhipicephalus scalpturatus'' Santos Dias, 1959
* '' Rhipicephalus schulzei'' Olenev 1929
* '' Rhipicephalus sculptus'' Warburton 1912
* '' 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 warburtoni'' Walker & Horak, 2000
* '' Rhipicephalus zambeziensis'' Walker, Norval & Corwin, 1981
* '' Rhipicephalus zumpti'' Santos Dias, 1950

Subgenus ''Boophilus''

* '' Rhipicephalus annulatus'' Say, 1821
* '' Rhipicephalus decoloratus'' Koch, 1844
* '' Rhipicephalus geigyi'' Aeschlimann & Morel, 1965
* '' Rhipicephalus kohlsi'' Hoogstraal & Kaiser, 1960
* '' Rhipicephalus microplus'' Canestrini, 1888 – southern cattle tick

References

Further reading

*

External links

*Guglielmone, A. A., et al. (2010)
The Argasidae, Ixodidae and Nuttalliellidae (Acari: Ixodida) of the world: A list of valid species names.
''Zootaxa'' (2528), 1-28.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2040501

Ticks
Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Koch
Ixodidae