Rhipicephalus
Rhipicephalus is a genus of hard ticks in the family Ixodidae, consisting of about 90 species. While many species are native to tropical Africa, the genus is cosmopolitan, being found across the world. Several species are vectors of significant human and animal pathogens.
Morphology
Rhipicephalus ticks are commonly called 'brown ticks' as they are mostly brown in colour. Most adult ticks in this genus do not have colour patterns on their scutum. Many taxa are very similar, without clear distinguishing features. Identification is often further frustrated by intraspecies variation. While males are reliably distinct, instar and female specimens are sometimes impossible to identify due to the lack of differential morphological features.
Disease potential
Rhipicephalus parasitism is of significant economic, medical, and veterinary importance. Many species are vectors of pathogens of humans and animals, including causing East Coast fever, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis, Boutonneuse fever, Lyme disease, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, NSDV and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever. In addition to the infectious agents spread by ticks, tick bites can lead to allergic and toxic reactions.
Some species can cause tick paralysis by injecting a neurotoxin with their bite, such as Rhipicephalus evertsi and ''Rhipicephalus warburtoni.''
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.
Etymology
The name Rhipicephalus is derived from the Greek word rhiphis, meaning "fan-like", and κεφαλή, kephalē, meaning "head". The two terms are related to the hexagonal basis capituli of Rhipicephalus.
Species
As of 2025, the genus contains 90 recognised species:Rhipicephalus afranicus Bakkes, 2020Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus Say, 1821Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann 1901 - brown ear tickRhipicephalus aquatilis Walker, Keirans & Pegram, 1993Rhipicephalus armatus Pocock, 1900Rhipicephalus arnoldi Theiler & Zumpt, 1949Rhipicephalus aurantiacus Neumann, 1907Rhipicephalus australis Fuller, 1899Rhipicephalus bequaerti Zumpt, 1949Rhipicephalus bergeoni Morel & Balis, 1976Rhipicephalus boueti Morel, 1957Rhipicephalus bursa Canestrini & Fanzago, 1878Rhipicephalus camicasi Morel, Mouchet & Rodhain, 1976Rhipicephalus capensis Koch, 1844Rhipicephalus carnivoralis Walker, 1966Rhipicephalus cliffordi Morel, 1965 Rhipicephalus complanatus Neumann, 1911Rhipicephalus compositus Neumann, 1897Rhipicephalus congolensis Apanaskevich, Horak & Mulumba-Mfumu, 2013Rhipicephalus cuspidatus Neumann, 1906Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus Koch, 1844Rhipicephalus deltoideus Neumann, 1910Rhipicephalus distinctus Bedford 1932Rhipicephalus duttoni Neumann, 1907Rhipicephalus dux Dönitz, 1910Rhipicephalus evertsi Neumann, 1897Rhipicephalus exophthalmos Keirans & Walker 1993Rhipicephalus follis Dönitz, 1910Rhipicephalus fulvus Neumann, 1913Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) geigyi Aeschlimann & Morel, 1965Rhipicephalus gertrudae Feldman-Muhsam, 1960Rhipicephalus glabroscutatus Du Toit, 1941Rhipicephalus guilhoni Morel & Vassiliades, 1963Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides Supino, 1897Rhipicephalus hibericus Millán, Rodriguez-Pastor & Estrada-Peña, 2024Rhipicephalus humeralis Rondelli, 1926 Rhipicephalus hurti Wilson, 1954 Rhipicephalus interventus Walker, Pegram & Keirans, 1995Rhipicephalus jeanneli Neumann 1913Rhipicephalus kochi Dönitz, 1905Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) kohlsi Hoogstraal & Kaiser, 1960Rhipicephalus leporis Pomerantsev, 1946Rhipicephalus linnaei Rhipicephalus longiceps Warburton 1912Rhipicephalus longicoxatus Neumann, 1905Rhipicephalus longus Neumann, 1907Rhipicephalus lounsburyi Walker, 1990Rhipicephalus lunulatus Neumann 1907Rhipicephalus maculatus Neumann, 1901Rhipicephalus masseyi Nuttall & Warburton 1908Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini, 1888Rhipicephalus moucheti Morel, 1965Rhipicephalus muehlensi Zumpt, 1943Rhipicephalus muhsamae Morel & Vassiliades, 1965Rhipicephalus neumanni Walker, 1990Rhipicephalus nitens Neumann, 1904Rhipicephalus oculatus Neumann 1901Rhipicephalus oreotragi Walker & Horak, 2000Rhipicephalus pilans Schulze, 1935Rhipicephalus planus Neumann, 1907Rhipicephalus praetextatus Gerstäcker, 1873Rhipicephalus pravus Dönitz, 1910Rhipicephalus pseudolongus Santos Dias, 1953Rhipicephalus pulchellus Gerstäcker, 1873Rhipicephalus pumilio Schulze, 1935Rhipicephalus punctatus Warburton 1912Rhipicephalus pusillus Gil Collado, 1936Rhipicephalus ramachandrai Dhanda, 1966Rhipicephalus rossicus Yakimov & Kol-Yakimova, 1911Rhipicephalus rutilus Koch, 1844Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, 1806 - brown dog tickRhipicephalus scalpturatus Santos Dias, 1959Rhipicephalus schulzei Olenev 1929Rhipicephalus sculptus Warburton 1912Rhipicephalus secundus Feldman-Muhsam, 1952Rhipicephalus senegalensis Koch, 1844Rhipicephalus serranoi Santos Dias 1950Rhipicephalus simpsoni Nuttall 1910Rhipicephalus simus Koch, 1844Rhipicephalus sulcatus Neumann, 1908Rhipicephalus supertritus Neumann, 1907Rhipicephalus tetracornus Kitaoka & Suzuki, 1983Rhipicephalus theileri Bedford & Hewitt, 1925Rhipicephalus tricuspis Dönitz, 1906Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936Rhipicephalus walkerae Horak, Apanaskevich and Kariuki, 2013Rhipicephalus warburtoni Walker & Horak, 2000Rhipicephalus zambeziensis Walker, Norval & Corwin, 1981Rhipicephalus ziemanni Neumann, 1904Rhipicephalus zumpti Santos Dias, 1950
Unrecognised
Rhipicephalus hoogstraali Kolonin, 2009
Rhipicephalus includes a clade centred around the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The taxonomy is currently in flux as phylogenies are developed. The species complex contains 16 known species-level lineages, but these often do not map singularly or wholly onto known species. Some species that are prima facie in the complex are yet to be sequenced:R. afranicus Bakkes, 2020 - 'Afrotropical lineage'R. camicasi Morel, Mouchet & Rodhain, 1976 R. guilhoni Morel & Vassiliades, 1963R. leporis Pomerantsev, 1946 R. linnaei Audouin, 1826 - 'tropical lineage'R. moucheti Morel, 1965 R. pumilio Schulze, 1935R. pusillus Gil Collado, 1936R. rossicus Yakimov & Kol-Yakimova, 1911R. rutilus Koch, 1844 - 'southeastern European lineage'R. sanguineus sensu stricto Latreille, 1806R. schulzei Olenev 1929 R. secundus Feldman-Muhsam, 1952R. sulcatus Neumann, 1908R. turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936
Suspect
Rhipicephalus bergeoni Morel & Balis, 1976 Rhipicephalus hibericus Millán, Rodriguez-Pastor & Estrada-Peña, 2024
Subgenus ''Boophilus''
Boophilus was once considered a separate genus, but studies in the early 2000s resulted in Boophilus being made a subgenus of Rhipicephalus. Although Boophilus has been included in the Rhipicephalus genus, their morphology is different from the typical Rhipicephalus species.