''Amblyomma hebraeum'', commonly known as the South African bont tick, is a species of

hard tick The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, one of the three families of ticks, consisting of over 700 species. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'sof ...

that is native to

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

. They are sexually dimorphic.

Description

The conscutum of the male is dappled in various shades and colours. The female's scutum is dappled but the

alloscutum A scute or scutum (Latin: ''scutum''; plural: ''scuta'' " shield") is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of birds. The term is also used to describe the anterior ...

is solid black. The male conscutum and female alloscutum are fringed with prominent festoons. The legs are swarthy or reddish, and paler at the joints.

Range

The species is native to eastern and northern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, eastern

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

, the greater part of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and southern

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. To the north and in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, the species is replaced by the

tropical bont tick ''Amblyomma variegatum'', commonly known as the tropical bont tick, is a species of tick of the genus ''Amblyomma'' endemic to Africa. It has spread from its centre of origin to several countries, including the Caribbean islands, where it is kn ...

, with which it locally overlaps.

Disease vector

The nymph and adult stages are

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

s for

heartwater Heartwater (also known as cowdriosis, nintas, and ehrlichiosis) is a tick-borne rickettsial disease. The name is derived from the fact that fluid can collect around the heart or in the lungs of infected animals. It is caused by ''Ehrlichia rumin ...

disease, which affects various species of domesticated

ruminant Ruminants (suborder Ruminantia) are ungulate, hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by Enteric fermentation, fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally ...

s. Some wild ruminants are susceptible to the disease and suffer from clinical heartwater, but others are highly resistant. The ticks remain infective for life, but their infection rates vary according to the season and region where they occur. In South Africa, 1 to 7% of ticks are infected at any one time.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q19896390 Arachnids of Africa hebraeum Animals described in 1844