Amblyomma maculatum Koch, 1844

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 : 404

Amblyomma maculatum Koch, 1844

The Amblyomma maculatum group formerly included A. tigrinum Koch, 1844 , A. triste Koch, 1844 , A. maculatum , A. neumanni and A. parvitarsum Neumann, 1901 . Amblyomma maculatum has often been confused with A. triste and A. tigrinum (Volzit 2007) . After new morphological and molecular studies, this group was reduced to A. maculatum , A. triste and A. tigrinum ( Estrada-Peña et al. 2005) . Amblyomma tigrinum is present in every South American country, except for Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Surinam ( Jones et al. 1972). Amblyomma maculatum occurs no farther south than Colombia and Venezuela, and the most southern records of A. maculatum from canids are in every case A. tigrinum (Aragão 1918; Kohls 1956). Both species are at first glance similar, but adults of A. maculatum possess a pair of spurs distally on the metatarsi of legs II, III and IV, whereas in adults of A. tigrinum only a single spur occurs on these metatarsi. This tick is a Neotropical-Nearctic species with bona fide records from Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the U.S.A., and Venezuela ( Onofrio et al. 2006; Mastropaolo et al. 2014). It is known as “gulf coast ticks”; it is a three-host tick that has been reported throughout the Americas and in some of the islands of the Caribbean basin. The adults parasitize different mammals, primarily ruminants, dogs, deer, coyotes, foxes. It is considered an aggressive, human and animal-biting ixodid tick ( Bishopp and Hixson 1936). The immature stages feed on a variety of birds but occasionally use small mammals as hosts ( Guglielmone et al. 2003; Teel et al. 2010; Voltzit 2007). Infested livestock often experience decreased body weight, irritation and/or secondary infection. Amblyomma maculatum is a potential vector of human pathogens such as Ehrlichia ruminantium ( Bram et al. 2002; Mahan et al. 2000), R. parkeri ( Sumner et al. 2007; Paddock et al. 2008; Socolovschi et al. 2009). In Colombia, A. maculatum has been reported on cattle, horses, dogs, birds, and rodents ( Wramc 1998; Lopez 2017). It was previously reported in the Eastern Plains (Llanos Orientales) ( Wells 1975; Wells et al. 1981 b) with ticks sent by Dr. Luis Patino-Camargo to Dr. Gadow H and donated to the Rocky Mountain Laboratory ( Robinson 1926). The presence of R.M.S.F. agent ( R. ricketsii ) in 1935 was previously associated with Dermacentor nitens and A. cajennense ticks collected from horses, horse saddles and mule dresses, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus from dogs ( Patino et al. 1937; Hidalgo et al. 2007). New reports of Rickettsia spp. in Colombia confirm its presence on dogs from the Caldas, Ibague and Tolima departments ( Rivera-Paez et al. 2018a), A. nitens in Valle del Cauca, A. cajennense , Ixodes spp. , on Equus caballus and E. asinus in Peñas Gordas/Dagua (3° 46' 34.8" N), (76° 43' 05.3" W) at 345 m a.s.l. ( Benavides-Montaño et al. 2018) deposited on CEUNP (008-009) ( Benavides-Montaño et al. 2018), on dogs and horses in Santander, Cattle in Tolima, and Zarigüeya Lanuda Caluromis derbianus - Marmosa alstoni in Valle del Cauca. Efrain Benavides reported the presence of A. maculatum (three females and six males) from rural areas of Anapoima, Fusagasugá, Tocaima and Ricaurte in tropical dry forest - Interandean Valles ( Benavides et al. 2017a). This tick was recently reported as a vector of Candidatus R. andeanae in ticks collected from C. lupus familiaris in Ibague ( Rivera-Paez et al. 2018b).