Scientific name Rhipicephalus microplus Rank Species | Subgenus Boophilus Higher classification Rhipicephalus | |
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Similar Rhipicephalus, Ixodidae, Ixodoidea, Amblyomma, Babesia bovis | ||
The Asian blue tick, (Rhipicephalus microplus), is an economically important tick that parasitises a variety of livestock species. It is known as the Australian cattle tick, southern cattle tick, cuban tick, Madagascar blue tick and Porto Rican Texas fever tick.
Contents
Parasitism
It has been recorded on "cattle, buffalo, horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, deer, pigs, dogs, buffalo, and some wild animals and some wild animals". it is considered as the most important tick parasite of livestock in the world.
Distribution
Nearly a cosmopolitan species, Asian blue tick is found in Costa Rica, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cote D'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Tick populations in Australia once thought to belong to R. microplus are now recognized to belong to R. australis, which was reinstated as a sibling species of R. microplus in 2012.
Having formerly been present in the United States, it has since been eradicated there, except for sporadic occurrences in a buffer zone along the Mexican border.
In Louisiana, Governor Ruffin Pleasant in 1917 signed legislation sponsored by freshman State Senator Norris C. Williamson of East Carroll Parish to authorize state funding to eradicate the cattle tick.
Life cycle
It has a one-host lifecycle.