''Amblyomma cajennense'' or Cayenne tick is a species of tick found in a range from the southern part of the United States to northern Argentina, through Central America and some of the Caribbean. As a consequence the species has adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. There are also major geographic barriers such as large rivers and the Andes mountain range.
There has been debate over whether ''A. cajennense'' is a single species or whether it is a complex of species. In the 1930s, Maria Tonelli-Rondelli proposed that the morphological variation within the species indicated that it was a complex, while in the 1950s this variation was proposed to be due to normal variation between individuals of one species. Molecular biological analyses have indicated that ''A. cajennense'' is a complex of species.
A 2014 study
[Santiago Nava, Lorenza Beati, Marcelo B. Labruna, Abraham G. Cáceres, Atilio J. Mangolda and Alberto A. Guglielmone. 2014. Reassessment of the taxonomic status of ''Amblyomma cajennense'' (Fabricius, 1787) with the description of three new species, ''Amblyomma tonelliae'' n. sp., ''Amblyomma interandinum'' n. sp. and ''Amblyomma patinoi'' n. sp., and reinstatement of ''Amblyomma mixtum'' Koch, 1844, and ''Amblyomma sculptum'' Berlese, 1888 (Ixodida: Ixodidae). ''Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases'', Volume 5, Issue 3, April 2014, pp. 252-276; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2013.11.004, as accessed 22 Sep 2020.] asserts that ''Amblyomma cajennense'' sensu stricto, s.s. is found only in the Amazonian region of South America, whereas the species reported from the northern part of the Inter-Andean valley of Peru is ''Amblyomma interandinum, A. interandinum'', the species present from Texas (U.S.A.) to western Ecuador is ''Amblyomma mixtum, A. mixtum'', the species that occurs in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia is ''Amblyomma patinoi, A. patinoi'', the species associated with the dry areas of the Chaco region spanning from central-northern Argentina to Bolivia and Paraguay is ''Amblyomma tonelliae, A. tonelliae'', and the species distributed from the humid areas of northern Argentina to the contiguous regions of Bolivia and Paraguay and the coastal and central-western states of Brazil is ''Amblyomma sculptum, A. sculptum''.
Clinical significance
''A. cajenennense'' can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
It affects humans and their domestic cattle.
In August 2009, Brazilian researchers announced that a protein called Factor X active found in the saliva of the tick proved effective in stopping the growth of certain cancer cells in laboratory Mouse, mice.
"Ticks Spit Could Help Fight Cancer" ''redOrbit.com''
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References
Amblyomma
Animals described in 1787
Parasites of birds
Arachnids of South America
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