Amblyomma varium 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 : 411

Amblyomma varium Koch, 1844

It is reported from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela; ( Jones et al. 1972; Guglielmone et al. 2003; BarrosBattesti et al. 2006; Onofrio et al. 2006). Xenarthra (anteater), armadillos and sloths are the main hosts. This tick has been reported in Colombia on sloths, Bradypus griseus (Lopez 2017) , in Bradypus tridactylus in Condoto – Choco, and in Panama, where it is commonly found parasitizing Choloepus hoffmanni ( Osorno-Mesa 1942; Wramc 1998; Voltzit 2007). Recently, a new update has mentioned its presence on C. l. familiaris from Ibague, Tolima ( Rivera-Paez et al. 2018a). Except for these few reports in Colombia, nothing is known about the biology and ecology of this tick species, hence the need for research that describes it thoroughly; it is likely that the specimens reported by Rivera on a pet dog were an accidental parasitism since this species feeds mostly on sloths ( Marques et al. 2002).