Amblyomma hebraeum Koch, 1844a

Guglielmone, Alberto A., Nava, Santiago & Robbins, Richard G., 2023, Geographic distribution of the hard ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae) of the world by countries and territories, Zootaxa 5251 (1), pp. 1-274 : 49

54. Amblyomma hebraeum Koch, 1844a .

Afrotropical: 1) Botswana, 2) Eswatini, 3) Kenya, 4) Mozambique, 5) South Africa, 6) Zambia, 7) Zimbabwe ( Colbo 1973, Tandon 1991, Morel 2003, Wanzala & Okanga 2006, Burridge 2011, Horak et al. 2018, Ledger et al. 2021, Shekede et al. 2021).

Most authors treat Amblyomma hebraeum as confined to southern Africa, although Horak et al. (2018) stated that records of this tick from Namibia are not from established populations. Males of Amblyomma hebraeum have been collected in Tanzania ( Yeoman & Walker 1967, Lynen et al. 2007), but these authors stated that Amblyomma hebraeum is not established in that country. Theiler (1962) and Walker (1974) treated the few records of this tick from Kenya as resulting from confusion with Amblyomma gemma , but Wanzala & Okango (2006) found evidence supporting the presence of Amblyomma hebraeum in Kenya. The northern limit to the geographical distribution of Amblyomma hebraeum within the Afrotropical Region is thought here to be uncertain, and the range of this tick is provisional. Females of Amblyomma gemma are morphologically indistinguishable from those of Amblyomma hebraeum ( Walker & Olwage 1987) , but males of the latter species have been found in material collected in Kenya and Tanzania. Therefore, Amblyomma hebraeum specimens collected in these two countries may represent either introductions that failed to establish permanent populations or permanent populations that have been overlooked. The study by Wanzala & Okango (2006) in Kenya supports the latter conclusion, which should be confirmed through additional research, and Kenya is provisionally included within the geographic distribution of Amblyomma hebraeum .

Wahedi et al. (2020) and Roméo et al. (2021) reported Amblyomma hebraeum as found in Nigeria and Cameroon, respectively, but its presence in those countries requires confirmation. Ghosh et al. (2007) and others list Amblyomma hebraeum as an Indian tick, but no established populations of this species have been confirmed in India. Consequently, Nigeria, Cameroon and India are here excluded from the range of Amblyomma hebraeum . This tick has been introduced to many territories around the world ( Burridge 2011, Guglielmone et al. 2014, Okely et al. 2022), including unconfirmed records from local domestic animals in the Palearctic portion of Pakistan ( Bibi et al. 2020). However, there is no evidence that Amblyomma hebraeum has become established outside the Afrotropical Region.