Haemaphysalis leachi

Haemaphysalis leachi, the yellow dog tick, is a hard-bodied tick of the genus Haemaphysalis. It is also known as African dog tick, or simply as dog tick in many parts of the world.^[1]

Haemaphysalis leachi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Family:	Ixodidae
Genus:	Haemaphysalis
Species:	H. leachi
Binomial name
Haemaphysalis leachi Audouin, 1826
Synonyms
Haemaphysalis humerosoides Santos Dias, 1955 Haemaphysalis leachi humerosoides Theiler, 1943 Haemaphysalis leachi leachi Neuman, 1911 Haemaphysalis leachii King, 1926 Haemaphysalis leachii humerosoides Theiler, 1962 Haemaphysalis leachii leachii Elbl & Anastos, 1966 (ambiguous synonym) Haemaphysalis leachii leachii Hoogstraal, 1958 Haemaphysalis (Feldmaniella) leachi Santos Dias, 1963 Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) leachi Hoogstraal, Kohls & Trapido, 19651965 Ixodes leachii Audouin, 1826 Rhipicephalus leachi Schwetz, 1927 (misapplied name) Rhipidostoma leachi Karsch, 1878 Rhipistoma leachi Neumann, 1897 Rhipistoma leachii Koch, 1844

Distribution

It is rather cosmopolitan species found throughout Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.^[2]

Parasitism

It is an obligate ectoparasite of many wild and domestic mammals such as domestic and wild carnivores, small rodents, and cattle. It is also a potential vector of boutonneuse fever and canine babesiosis.^[3]

Lifecycle

In the yellow dog tick's lifecycle, it attaches itself to three hosts. When the host, such as a dog, starts to scratch, the female tick starts to produce a dog-repelling allomone, which enables it to survive longer on the host.^[4]