• Rhipicephalus Koch, C.L. 1844. Systematische Übersicht über die Ordnung der Zecken. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 10: 217-239.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Kanmantoo (KAN), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Boophilus Curtice, C. 1891. The biology of the cattle tick. Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Archives 12: 313-319.

History of changes

• Rhipicephalus australis Fuller, C. 1899. Notes on the Queensland cattle tick, and its relationship to the Texas fever tick and the blue tick of Cape Colony (South Africa). Queensland Agricultural Journal 4: 389-394.

Miscellaneous Literature Names

• Boophilus microplus (Canestrini, 1887) [misidentification, see comments below]. —
  Canestrini, G. 1887. Intorno ad alcuni Acari ed Opilionidi dell' America. Atti della Società Veneto-Trentina di Scienze Naturali, Padova 11: 100-111 pls IX, X

Introduction

The economically important Australian cattle tick has been known for over 100 years as Boophilus microplus (Canestrini). Under that name, it has been the subject of an enormous literature, both in Australia and other countries (reviewed by Angus, 1998, with selected references below). However, new evidence has shown that the Australian cattle tick is a separate species, which was originally described as Rhipicephalus australis by Fuller (1899) (Labruna et al., 2009; Estrada-Peña et al., 2012). All the previous literature on the Australian cattle tick actually refers to Rhipicephalus australis, not Boophilus microplus.

Recent research has shown that the genus Boophilus is a junior synonym of Rhipicephalus (see Beati & Keirans 2001; Murrell & Barker 2003). The Australian cattle tick should therefore be known as Rhipicephalus australis. However, in order to maintain the link between the names Boophilus and microplus, the genus Rhipicephalus is now considered to include two subgenera, and the Australian cattle tick is now known as Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) australis. Barker & Walker (2014) reviewed the biology and morphology of this species in detail.

General References

Angus, B.M. 1998. Tick Fever and the Cattle Tick in Australia 1829-1996. Brisbane : Queensland Department of Primary Industries 540 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Arthur, D.R. 1960. Ticks. A Monograph of the Ixodoidea. Part V. On the Genera Dermacentor, Anocentor, Cosmiomma, Boophilus, & Margaropus. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press 251 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Barker, S.C., Walker, A.R. & Campelo, D. 2014. A list of the 70 species of Australian ticks; diagnostic guides to and species accounts of Ixodes holocyclus (paralysis tick), Ixodes cornuatus (southern paralysis tick) and Rhipicephalus australis (Australian cattle tick); and consideration of the place of Australia in the evolution of ticks with comments on four controversial ideas. International Journal for Parasitology 44: 941-953. (as Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) australis)

Barker, S.C. & Walker, A.R. 2014. Ticks of Australia. The species that infest domestic animals and humans. Zootaxa 3816: 1-144. (as Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) australis)

Beati, L. & Keirans, J.E. 2001. Analysis of the systematic relationships among ticks of the genera Rhipicephalus and Boophilus (Acari: Ixodidae) based on mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA gene sequences and morphological characters. Journal of Parasitology 87: 32-48

Camicas, J.-L., Hervy, J.-P., Adam, F. & Morel, P.C. 1998. Les Tiques du Monde (Acarida, Ixodida). Paris : Orstom 233 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Carne, P.B. (ed.) 1987. Scientific and Common Names of Insects and Allied Forms Occurring in Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO 120 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Curtice, C. 1896. The cattle tick (Boophilus bovis, Riley sp.). Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales 7: 454-466 pls I, II (as Boophilus bovis)

Estrada-Peña, A., Venzal, J.M., Nava., S., Mangold, A., Guglielmone, A.A., Labruna, M.B. & de la Fuente, J. 2012. Reinstatement of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) australis (Acari: Ixodidae) with redescription of the adult and larval stages. Journal of Medical Entomology 49: 794–802 (as Rhipicephalus (Boophilis) australis)

Ferguson, E.W. 1925. Australian ticks. The Australian Zoologist 4: 24-35 (as Boophilus annulatus ssp. australis)

Fielding, J.W. 1926. Australasian ticks. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publication (Tropical Division) 9: 1-114 (as Boophilus australis)

Fuller, C. 1896. Notes on the Queensland cattle tick. Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales 7: 451-453 (as Boophilus bovis)

Fuller, C. 1896. The bovine tick fever. Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales 7: 760-787 pls I-V (as Ixodes bovis)

Graham, O.H. & Price, M.A. 1966. Some morphological variations in Boophilus annulatus microplus (Acarina : Ixodidae) from Northern Mexico. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 59: 450-452 (as Boophilus annulatus ssp. microplus)

Hoogstraal, H. 1956. African Ixodoidea. I. Ticks of the Sudan. Cairo, Egypt : US Navy Medical Research Unit No 3. 1101 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Labruna, M.B., Naranjo, V., Mangold. A.J., Thompson, C., Estrada-Peña, A., Guglielmone, A.A., Jongejan, F. & de la Fuente, J. 2009. Allopatric speciation in ticks: genetic and reproductive divergence between geographic strains of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9(46): 12 pages

Lee, D.C. & Southcott, R.V. 1979. Spiders and other Arachnids of South Australia. In South Australian Yearbook, 1979. South Australian Government Printer : Adelaide. 15 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Murrell, A. & Barker, S.C. 2003. Synonymy of Boophilus Curtice, 1891 with Rhipicephalus Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae). Systematic Parasitology 56: 169-172

Naumann, I. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Australian Insect Names. Common and Scientific Names for Insects and Allied Organisms of Economic and Environmental Importance. Melbourne : CSIRO Publications v 200 pp. [Date published 31/12/1993] (as Boophilus microplus)

Neumann, G. 1901. Revision de la famille des Ixodidés. Mémoires de la Société Zoologique de France 14: 249-372 (as Rhipicephalus annulatus var. australis)

Rainbow, W.J. 1899. The Queensland cattle tick. Records of the Australian Museum 3: 131-133 (as Rhipicephalus annulatus)

Rainbow, W.J. 1906. A synopsis of Australian Acarina. Records of the Australian Museum 6: 145-193 (as Rhipicephalus annulatus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1934. Ticks infesting domesticated animals in Queensland. Queensland Agricultural Journal 41: 114-123 (as Boophilus microplus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1947. Ticks infesting domestic animals in Queensland. Queensland Agricultural Journal 64: 233-244 (as Boophilus microplus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1965. The taxonomic status of the species of the genera Rhipicephalus Koch and Boophilus Curtice (Acarina : Ixodidae) occurring in Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 13: 491-523 (as Boophilus microplus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1969. The larvae of Australian Ixodidae (Acarina : Ixodoidea). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 8: 37-78 (as Boophilus microplus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1970. Australian Ticks. Melbourne : CSIRO 267 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Seddon, H.R. 1952. Diseases of Domestic Animals in Australia. Part 3. Tick and Mite Infestations. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publication (Division of Veterinary Hygeine) 7. 200 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Seddon, H.R. 1968. Diseases of Domestic Animals in Australia. Part 3. Arthropod Infestations (Ticks and Mites). Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publication (Veterinary Hygeine) (Revised by H. E. Albiston) Vol. 7 170 pp. (as Boophilus microplus)

Taylor, F.H. 1911. Report of the Entomologist. Reports of the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine 1911: 49-74 pls XII-XIV (as Boophilus annulatus var. australis)

Taylor, F.H. 1946. Spiders, ticks and mites, including the species harmful to man in Australia and New Guinea. Section 1. Descriptive. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publications (School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Sydney) 6: 1-234 (as Boophilus microplus)

History of changes

• Rhipicephalus Koch, C.L. 1844. Systematische Übersicht über die Ordnung der Zecken. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 10: 217-239.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Kanmantoo (KAN), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Ixodes sanguineus Latreille, P.A. 1806. Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum secundum ordinem naturalem in famlias disposita, iconibus exemplisque plurimus explicita. Paris : König Vol. 1 xviii 302 pp. pls 1–16.

Introduction

Comprehensive reviews of the taxonomy and biology of this species may be found in Walker et al. (2000) and Barker & Walker (2014). Camicas et al. (1998) provide an extensive list of its synonyms. The name Rhipicephalus sanguineus has almost certainly been applied to several different species, and the precise identity of these species has not yet been resolved (Dantas-Torres & Otranto, 2015; Nava et al. 2018).

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Kanmantoo (KAN), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

General References

Barker, S.C., Walker, A.R. & Campelo, D. 2014. A list of the 70 species of Australian ticks; diagnostic guides to and species accounts of Ixodes holocyclus (paralysis tick), Ixodes cornuatus (southern paralysis tick) and Rhipicephalus australis (Australian cattle tick); and consideration of the place of Australia in the evolution of ticks with comments on four controversial ideas. International Journal for Parasitology 44: 941-953. (as Rhipicephalus (Rhipicephalus) sanguineus)

Barker, S.C. & Walker, A.R. 2014. Ticks of Australia. The species that infest domestic animals and humans. Zootaxa 3816: 1-144. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Camicas, J.-L., Hervy, J.-P., Adam, F. & Morel, P.C. 1998. Les Tiques du Monde (Acarida, Ixodida). Paris : Orstom 233 pp. (as Rhipicephalus (Rhipicephalus) sanguineus)

Carne, P.B. (ed.) 1987. Scientific and Common Names of Insects and Allied Forms Occurring in Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO 120 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Dantas-Torres, F. & Otranto, D. 2015. Further thoughts on the taxonomy and vector role of Rhipicephalus sanguineus group ticks. Veterinary Parasitology 208: 9-13.

Ferguson, E.W. 1925. Australian ticks. The Australian Zoologist 4: 24-35 (as Rhipicephalus sanguinius)

Fielding, J.W. 1926. Australasian ticks. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publication (Tropical Division) 9: 1-114 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Hoogstraal, H. 1956. African Ixodoidea. I. Ticks of the Sudan. Cairo, Egypt : US Navy Medical Research Unit No 3. 1101 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Hoogstraal, H. 1973. Ticks. pp. 398-424 in Flynn, R.J. (ed.). Parasites of Laboratory Animals. Ames, Iowa : Iowa State University Press. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Lee, D.C. & Southcott, R.V. 1979. Spiders and other Arachnids of South Australia. In South Australian Yearbook, 1979. South Australian Government Printer : Adelaide. 15 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Naumann, I. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Australian Insect Names. Common and Scientific Names for Insects and Allied Organisms of Economic and Environmental Importance. Melbourne : CSIRO Publications v 200 pp. [Date published 31/12/1993] (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Nava, S., Beati, L., Venzal, J.M., Labruna, M.B., Szabó, M.P.J., Petney, T., Saracho-Bottero, M.N., Tarragona, E.L., Dantas-Torres, F., Santos Silva, M.M., Mangold, A.J., Guglielmone, A.A. & Estrada-Peña, A. 2018. Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806): Neotype designation, morphological re-description of all parasitic stages and molecular characterization. Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases 9: 1573-1585.

Pegram, R.G., Keirans, J.E., Clifford, C.M. & Walker, J.B. 1987. Clarification of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group (Acari, Ixodoidea, Ixodidae). II. R. sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) and realted species. Systematic Parasitology 10: 27-44 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1934. Ticks infesting domesticated animals in Queensland. Queensland Agricultural Journal 41: 114-123 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1947. Ticks infesting domestic animals in Queensland. Queensland Agricultural Journal 64: 233-244 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1965. The taxonomic status of the species of the genera Rhipicephalus Koch and Boophilus Curtice (Acarina : Ixodidae) occurring in Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 13: 491-523 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1969. The larvae of Australian Ixodidae (Acarina : Ixodoidea). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 8: 37-78 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Roberts, F.H.S. 1970. Australian Ticks. Melbourne : CSIRO 267 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Seddon, H.R. 1952. Diseases of Domestic Animals in Australia. Part 3. Tick and Mite Infestations. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publication (Division of Veterinary Hygeine) 7. 200 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Seddon, H.R. 1968. Diseases of Domestic Animals in Australia. Part 3. Arthropod Infestations (Ticks and Mites). Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publication (Veterinary Hygeine) (Revised by H. E. Albiston) Vol. 7 170 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Southcott, R.V. 1976. Arachnidism and allied syndromes in the Australian region. Records of the Adelaide Children's Hospital 1: 97-186 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Southcott, R.V. 1978. Australian Harmful Arachnids and Their Allies. Mitcham, South Australia : R. V. Southcott 36 pp. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Taylor, F.H. 1911. Report of the Entomologist. Reports of the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine 1911: 49-74 pls XII-XIV (as Hyalomma aegyptium)

Taylor, F.H. 1946. Spiders, ticks and mites, including the species harmful to man in Australia and New Guinea. Section 1. Descriptive. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Service Publications (School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Sydney) 6: 1-234 (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Walker, J.B., Keirans, J.E. & Horak, I.G. 2000. The genus Rhipicephalus (Acari, Ixodidae). A Guide to the Brown Ticks of the World. Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press pp. 643. (as Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

History of changes