Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini, 1887)

Benavides-Montaño, Javier Antonio, Betancourt-Echeverri, Jesus Antonio, Valencia, Gustavo López & Mesa-Cobo, Nora Cristina, 2022, A review of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Colombia: The risk of tick-borne diseases, Persian Journal of Acarology 11 (3), pp. 397-437 : 412

Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini, 1887) ( Fig. 8)

Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is one of the most important ticks on domestic animals associated with different environmental conditions. The main host in South America and Colombia is cattle ( Todorovic et al. 1973; Luque 1975; López 1980; Estrada-Peña et al. 2006), but it is possible to find it on other hosts such as horses and dogs. In other countries R. (B.) microplus has also been found on Blastocerus dichotomus , Mazama gouzaubira , and Ozotoceros bezoarticus ( Bechara et al. 2000) . Rhipicephalus (B.) microplus causes considerable economic losses to producers by blood sucking, disease transmission and costs of control. The economic loss worldwide has been estimated in US $ 7 billon/year ( De Castro 1997). In Colombia, the losses could be close to US $146 million/year, considering a population of 20 million cattle exposed to ticks, and an annual cost head/year of US $7.3 ( García 1983; Lopez 2017; López and Parra 2017). These estimates do not take into account the considerable economic loss associated with the use of acaricides employed in controlling the plague. Unfortunately, the abuse of acaricides has favored resistance to different acaricides ( Nasayo et al. 1997; Álvarez and Bonilla 2007; Rodríguez et al. 2012). In Colombia, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus seems to be becoming adapted to high altitudes (more than 2600 m a.s.l.), where it had not been frequently reported before ( Cortés et al. 2010). Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus has the ability to survive under anthropogenic modifications of land surface, agrarian practices, and the adaptation of forest areas into pastureland for cattle, which also transform the natural function of the ecosystems. Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is able to survive in different ecological areas, and extreme environmental and human conditions. This tick might represent a helpful biomarker or indicator of threats to biodiversity as a consequence of human impact in strict associations with protected or conservation areas; locations which receive protection because of their recognized ecological nature. In Colombia its presence has been reported between 0–2900 m a.s.l. ( Cortés et al. 2010; Lopez 2017) which is unusual and probably associated with climate change. Nowadays, its presence in Colombian territory is endemic, confirmed in multiple regions such as Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Bolivar, Caldas, Casanare, Cundinamarca, Meta, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Nariño ( López 1980; Arias et al. 1991; Betancourt et al. 1992; Cortés et al. 2010; Rivera-Paez et al. 2018b). It is the most important vector of the rickettsia Anaplasma marginale and the protozoa Babesia bigemina and Babesia bovis ( Benavides et al. 2016; Lopez and Vizcaino 1992).