Rhipicephalus sanguineus

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 : 413

R. sanguineus sensu stricto (s.s.) ( Fig. 9)

It is part of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus complex, represented by 17 species in the world ( Sanches et al. 2016). This species was firstly classified as Ixodes sanguineus Latreille, 1806 and later transferred to the genus Rhipicephalus family by Koch (1844). This species is composed of two strains, morphologically and genetically distinct in the Neotropics: a southern (temperate) strain, located in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and south Brazil; and a northern lineage (located in tropical and subtropical regions) in Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia, South Africa, Mozambique, and northern Argentina ( Moraes-Filho et al. 2011) . In Colombia, there have been reports regarding the presence of the northern lineage, with samples from La Libertad, Magdalena, provided by Dr. Efrain Benavides Ortiz (University of La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia). However, this species probably belongs to a lineage different from R. sanguineus ( Sanches et al. 2016) . New studies need to focus on morphological, genetic and biological aspects of this tick in different geographical regions ( Moraes-Filho et al. 2011). Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.s. is probably the most widespread tick around the world. Its main hosts are rural and urban C. l. familiaris , but it also feeds on wild animals in captivity or free-living ones, such as rabbits, cats, Norway rat, pigeons, and wild canids ( Dantas-Torres 2008). This tick transmits different hemoparasites of zoonotic concern, such as Coxiella burnetti , Ehrlichia canis , Rickettsia conorii and R. rickettsii , R. massiliae , Anaplasma platys , Babesia canis vogeli , B. gibsoni and Leishmania infantum , among others. ( Dantas-Torres 2008; Otranto et al. 2009; Labruna et al. 2011; Dantas-Torres et al. 2012). The ecology and biology of this species have been previously described, but it is important to restate this tick's outstanding capacity to adapt and live in humid environments and resist desiccation ( Koch and Tuck 1986). In some cases, high temperatures help this tick to attach more rapidly to rabbits and humans ( Parola et al. 2008). Climatic conditions and availability of hosts are the major factors that determine its survival ( Parola and Raoult 2001; Suss et al. 2008). Rhipicephalus sanguineus and A. cajennense have been associated with the presence of R. rickettsii in Villeta and Tobia, Cundinamarca, Colombia ( Hidalgo et al. 2007). In domestic herds, C. l. familiaris are often involved in human labor activities, which explain the presence of this tick in cattle farms. In Colombia, the ticks of the R. sanguineus group are present from rural areas in the Caribbean coast to highly urbanized locations in the Andean zone at 2600 m a.s.l. ( Acero EJ 2011; Paternina et al. 2009). In Colombia, a prevalence of 92.1% in C. familiaris has been reported ( Paternina et al. 2009). This tick is endemic in Valle del Cauca, where it is usually associated with C. l. familiaris . It is deposited in the CEUNP tick collection ( Benavides-Montaño et al. 2018), and it is considered the main vector of E. canis and B. canis vogeli due to its high capacity to adapt to urban environments ( Benavides-Montaño and Ramírez 2003; Vargas-Hernandez et al. 2012; Rojas-Triviño et al. 2013). This tick was recently reported as a vector of Candidatus Ricketsia andeanae from ticks collected in C. l. familiaris in Leticia-Amazonas ( Rivera-Paez et al. 2018b) and other rickettsiales such as Ehrlichia canis , Anaplasma platys , Rickettsia felis ( Paternina et al. 2017) , Babesia canis vogeli and Hepatozoon canis ( Guevara-Vega et al. 2017) .