Bothriocroton concolor
Bothriocroton concolor, commonly known as the echidna tick, is a hard-bodied tick species endemic to Australia.
They are found across eastern coastal and subcoastal Australia, from Northern Queensland to Kangaroo Island.
As the name suggests, B. concolor has strict host specificity to echidnas, specifically the short-beaked echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. The exception is on Kangaroo Island, where B. concolor can be found on Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus, the Kangaroo Island subspecies of the Western grey kangaroo.
Description
Bothriocroton concolor, like all Bothriocroton, tend to be large, rounded ticks. They are distinguishable by the presence of a conspicuous pointed spur projecting medially from distoventral palpal segment II. Females often have pale colouring to the medial scutal aspect, and large bilateral punctations on the posterior of the lateral scutal aspects. In both sexes, the palps are more broad, dorsally, than in other Bothriocroton.The species is the most common tick of echidnas in Australia. In central Queensland, it may be confused with B. tachyglossi, which is common on echidnas in that region. Other tick species that feed on echidnas include Amblyomma echidnae, Amblyomma australiense, Amblyomma moyi and Ixodes barkeri, but all of these are uncommon.