Rhipicephalus ticks are commonly called 'the brown tick' as they are mostly brown in colour.[4] Most adult ticks in this genus do not have colour patterns on their scutum (inornate).[4] This makes the species difficult to distinguish from one another because most are quite similar, but individuals of one particular species can be quite variable.[3][4] Ticks have traditionally been identified by examination of distinctive morphological features. Most of the characteristics used to identify species pertain to male specimens.[3] The immature and female specimens are sometimes simply impossible to identify due to the lack of differential morphological features.[3][4][5]
Certain species may cause tick-caused paralysis when they inject a neurotoxin with their bite, for example Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi.[9]
Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi paralyses only sheep, even though it also feeds on cattle, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rabbits, or rats.[9]
Sex pheromone studies
A number of Rhipicephalus spp. females produce phenol and p-cresol after being fed for six days. These compounds may act as sex pheromones since these compounds were shown to be the sex pheromone of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. [10]
Etymology
The name Rhipicephalus is derived from the Greek word rhiphis, meaning "fan-like",[citation needed] and κεφαλή, kephalē, meaning "head". The two terms are related to the hexagonal basis capituli of Rhipicephalus.
Boophilus was once considered a separate genus, but studies in the early 2000s resulted in Boophilus being made a subgenus of Rhipicephalus.[16] Although Boophilus has been included in the Rhipicephalus genus, their morphology is different from the typical Rhipicephalus species.[5]
^ abcdWalker, J.B., Keirans, J.E. & Horak, I.G. (2000). The Genus Rhipicephalus (Acari, Ixodidae): A Guide to the Brown Ticks of the World. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-48008-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Daniel E. Sonenshine, R. Michael Roe (2014). Overview: Ticks, People, and Animals in Biology of ticks, Volume 1 (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-937927-9. OCLC862106136.
^Wood, William F.; Leahy, Mary G..; Galun, R.; Prestwich, G. D.; Meinwald, J.; Purnell, R. E.; Payne, J. (1975). "Phenols as Sex Pheromones of Ixodid Ticks: A General Phenomen?". J. Chemical Ecology. 1: 501–509. doi:10.1007/BF00988590.
^Kitaoka, Shigeo; Suzuki, Hiroshi (1983). "Studies on the Parasite Fauna of Thailand: 5. Parasitic ticks on mammals and description of Ixodes siamensis sp. n. and Rhipicephalus tetracornus sp. n. (Acarina: Ixodidae)". Tropical Medicine. 25 (4): 205–219. hdl:10069/4366.
Horak, I. G.; et al. (2000). The Genus Rhipicephalus (Acardi, Ixodidae): A Guide to the Brown Ticks of the World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN978-0-521-48008-6.
