Ticks: a Monograph of the Ixodoidea

Abstract

THE genus Amblyomma is by far the richest in species of the genera of ticks, comprising many forms remarkable for the beauty of their ornamentation. Dr. L. E. Robinson considers the number of valid species to be eighty-six. Although not of such great importance as carriers of disease as some other genera—for example, the cattle ticks (Boophilus), also the genera Rhipicephalus and Dermacentor—the genus Amblyomma includes several forms very injurious to domestic animals. The South African ‘Bont tick’ (Amblyomma hebræum) is the principal transmitter of heartwater—a disease frequently fatal to sheep, goats, and cattle. This tick and some allied species are known to cause very severe ulcerating sores, sometimes leading to the loss of one or more udders of the host. Pyæmia and other complaints of horses due to soil-infesting organisms are also believed to ensue from the bites of Amblyomma variegatum and allied forms. Live-stock infested with these ticks sometimes suffer greatly from loss of blood and ‘tick worry’ due to the large number of parasites present. The larvæ of Amblyomma cajennense—a common tick in the West Indies, Central and South America—are a great plague, freely attacking man and domestic animals.

Ticks: a Monograph of the Ixodoidea.

By George H. F. Nuttall C. Warburton L. E. Robinson. Part 4: The Genus Amblyomma. By Dr. L. E. Robinson. Pp. xii + 302 + 8 plates. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1926.) 20s. net.