Amblyomma geochelone Durden, Keirans and Smith, 2002

Guglielmone, Alberto A., Petney, Trevor N. & Robbins, Richard G., 2020, Ixodidae (Acari: Ixodoidea): descriptions and redescriptions of all known species from 1758 to December 31, 2019, Zootaxa 4871 (1), pp. 1-322 : 96

47. Amblyomma geochelone Durden, Keirans and Smith, 2002 .

An Afrotropical species known only to parasitize Testudines : Testudinidae . See note below.

M: Durden et al. (2002)

F: Durden et al. (2002)

N: unknown

L: unknown

Redescriptions: none

Note: Kushimo (2013) found that sequences of the 12S rDNA gene of Amblyomma geochelone , Amblyomma chabaudi (both parasites of Testudines : Testudinidae in Madagascar) and Amblyomma loculosum (chiefly a parasite of marine birds) are identical. Durden et al. (2002) did not compare Amblyomma geochelone with Amblyomma chabaudi when describing the former species. Both species appear to be morphologically close and it is possible that Amblyomma geochelone is a synonym of Amblyomma chabaudi . In their study of African Amblyomma, Voltzit and Keirans (2003) redescribe Amblyomma chabaudi but not Amblyomma geochelone . The conspecificity of Amblyomma loculosum with Amblyomma chabaudi and Amblyomma geochelone is unexpected, although the three species are morphologically close.