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.
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.
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.
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.