This tick, originally referred to as Rhipicephalus species Ill by Yeoman & Walker (1967), was first collected
from a sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, and then occasionally from cattle, in Tanzania. Further collections,
mostly from sitatunga, have since been seen from Uganda and Zambia. Descriptions of the adults of this
species are given, together with information on their hosts and their distribution.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. 
Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Onderstepoort
Veterinary Institute.mn201

Keirans, J.E.

Pegram, R.G.

Walker, Jane B.

The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. 
Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.This tick, originally referred to as Rhipicephalus species Ill by Yeoman & Walker (1967), was first collected
from a sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, and then occasionally from cattle, in Tanzania. Further collections,
mostly from sitatunga, have since been seen from Uganda and Zambia. Descriptions of the adults of this
species are given, together with information on their hosts and their distribution.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Onderstepoort
Veterinary Institute.mn201

UPSpace at the University of Pretoria

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 60:205-21 0 (1993) Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov. (Acari: l.xodidae), a new tick species parasitic m•inly on the sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, in East an,·d Central Africa JANE' B. WALKER\ J.E. KEIRANS2 and R.G. PEGRAM3 ABSTRACT WALKER, JANE B., KEIRANS, J.E. & PEGRAM, R.G. 1993. Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov. (Acari: Ixodidae) , a new tick species parasitic mainly on the sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, in East and Central Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research , 60: 205- 210 This tick, originally referred to as Rhipicephalus species Ill by Yeoman & Walker (1967), was first collected from a sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, and then occasionally from cattle, in Tanzania. Further collections, mostly from sitatunga, have since been seen from Uganda and Zambia. Descriptions of the adults of this species are given, together with information on their hosts and their distribution. INTRODUCTION In 1967, Yeoman & Walker designated five batches of adult ticks from north-western Tanzania as Rhipi-cephalus species Ill. They had been unable to assign these ticks to any known species in this genus. Since then a further seven collections of this tick from Uganda and three from Zambia have been seen. The specific name, aquatilis, a Latin term meaning "living in or near water", refers to the fact that all the collections have been made from hosts in semi-aquatic habitats. The following are descrip-tions of the adults of this species. ' Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa 2 Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30460-8056, USA 3 Present address: Food and Agriculture Organization Tick Con-trol Project, Veterinary Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 8101 , Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe Received 14 June1993-Editor DESCRIPTIONS Measurements of the ticks are given in millimetres (mm). The range given represents the measure-ments of the largest and smallest specimens in a batch of ten males and 14 females collected from a sitatunga, Lake Bangweulu, Zambia (RML 120946). Rhipicephalus aquatilis Walker, Keirans & Pegram, sp. nov. Synonyms Rhipicephalus sp. Ill sensu Yeoman & Walker 1967. The ixodid ticks of Tanzania: 174. Rhipicephalus sp. Ill, in Keirans 1985. George Hen-ry Falkiner Nuttall and the Nuttall tick catalogue (Nuttall Collection 1714): 736; (Nuttall Collection 3949): 1681. Rhipicephalus sp. Ill, in Pegram, Perry, Musisi & Mwanaumo 1986. Experimental and Applied Aca-rology, 2:35, 42. Rhipicephalus sp. Ill, in Matthysse & Coiba 1987. The ixodid ticks of Uganda : 317. 205 Rhipicephalus aquatilus sp. nov. (Acari: Ixodidae) HOLOTYPE. d', collected from a sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei) at Kaisho (01 °19'S, 30°37'E), Karagwe Dis-trict, Tanzania, on 14 August 1959 by Mrs G. Tul-lock, from Tanzania Tick Collection WA/99, depos-ited in the Natural History Museum, London. ALLOTYPE. ~, data as above. PARA TYPES. 4 d'd', 2 ~ ~, collection data as above, deposited in the Natural History Museum, London; 2 d'd', 2 ~ ~, collection data as above, deposited in the Onderstepoort Tick Collection, OP 3143 i; 2 d'd', 2 ~ ~ , collected from T. spekei, Uganda, OP 3143 ii; 1 ~, collected from bovine, Limulunga (15°09'S, 23°1 O'E), Zambia, on 31 March 1982, by R.G. Peg-ram, OP 3143 iii (TC 737); 1 ~.collected from bo-vine, Limulunga, Zambia, in April 1982, by R.G. Pegram, OP 3143 iv (TC 770); 10 d'd', 14 ~~.col­lected from T. spekei at Lake Bangweulu (11 °05'S, 29°45'E), Zambia, on 1 September 1991 , United States National Tick Collection, RML 120946. MALE (Fig. 1, 3-5) CAPITULUM (Fig. 3). Approximately as broad as long, the length (including cornua) x breadth varying from 0,85 x 0,66 to 0,82 x 0,66 mm. BASIS CAPITULI . Length from palpal insertion to cor-nua apices varying from 0,48-0,38 mm. Anterolat-eral margins straight, diverging posterolaterally; pos-terolateral margins straight to slightly concave, ex-tending anteriorly over the apical processes of coxa I. Cornua large, broader than long, triangular. Dor-sal setae of basis capituli as in Fig. 3. Basis capituli ventrally with all features of palps and hypostome typical of the genus. PALPS (Fig. 3). Article I slightly elongate, easily visi-ble dorsally; article II longer than article Ill; both broader than long. BODY (Fig. 1). lnornate, typical colouration dark red-dish brown to almost black, including lateral idio-somal area and conscutum; leg colouration uniformly dark reddish brown. Length (from scapular apices to posterior body margin) x breadth varying from 3,32 x 2,21 to 2,57 x 1,71 mm; broadest at level of ante-rior margin of spiracle, broadly rounded posteriorly. In engorged specimens the idiosomal wall bulges slightly laterally, and a small caudal process pro-trudes posteromedially at the sixth festoon. CONSCUTUM (Fig. 1). Eyes marginal, flat, partially outlined by a few punctations. Cervical pits small, slightly converging; internal cervical margins ab-sent; external cervical margins a slight declination marked with a row of punctations; raised lateral borders smooth, shiny. Marginal line narrow, deep, and punctate, delimiting festoon 1 and extending an-teriorly to posterior of eye. Posteromedian and pos-terolateral grooves well developed; posteromedian 206 straight, narrow; posterolaterals begin as thin lines between festoons 3 and 4 and extend anteriorly as comma-shaped grooves slightly impressed into the conscutal surface. Punctations numerous, small, those in external cervical margin and marginal line very slightly larger, but the overall impression is of a conscutum covered throughout with uniformly small punctations. LEGS (Fig. 1). Increase in size very slightly from I to IV. Anterior projection of coxa I sharp, easily visible dorsally. VENTRAL SURFACE- SPIRACLE (Fig. 4) . Elongate, nar-row, macula situated near anterior margin; dorsal prolongation visible from dorsum, not much narrow-er than body of spiracle. ADANAL PLATES (Fig. 5): Usually sickle-shaped as in the illustration, but in some males more straight-sided with only an indication of being sickle-shaped. Accessory plates as in Fig. 5, but less well devel-oped in some males. FEMALE (Fig. 2, 6-8) CAPITULUM (Fig. 6). Slightly broader than long, the length x breadth varying from 0,86 x 0,83 to 0,85 x 0,82 mm. BASIS CAPITULI (Fig. 6). Length from palpal insertion to cornua apices varying from 0,48-0,44 mm; porose areas small, indented, subcircular. PALPS (Fig. 6). Article I short, but visible from dorsal surface. Article II longer than article Ill. BoDY (Fig. 2). Length (from scapular apices to pos-terior body margin) x breadth varying from 3,32 x 2,10 to 3,20 x 1 ,91 mm. Marginal line usually de-limits first two festoons, extending anteriorly as a deep, seta-lined trough to posterior margin of scu-tum. Colour dark reddish brown to almost black. SCUTUM (Fig. 2, 7). Outline ovoid, colour glossy dark reddish brown to black. Length x breadth vary-ing from 1 ,69 x 1 ,65 to 1 ,54 x 1 ,46 mm; broadest at eye level. Eyes marginal, flat to very slightly raised. Cervical pits short, deep, converging; internal cervi-cal margin shallow, converging initially then diverg-ing; external cervical margin a slight declination well delineated by a cessation of punctations; raised lat-eral borders smooth, shiny with only a few puncta-tions on the lateral margins and scapular areas. Punctations numerous, small, evenly distributed centrally, but few in anterior areas of cervical fields. LEGS (Fig. 2). Uniformly dark brown, not increasing in size from I-IV. VENTRAL SURFACE- SPIRACLE. Short, rounded, with small, broad dorsal prolongation. JANE B. WALKER, J.E. KEIRANS & R.G. PEGRAM 1 FIG. 1- 2 Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov. [Onderstepoort Tick Collection 3143 i (WN99)] . 1. Male, dorsal view. 2. Female, dorsal view. A. Olwage del. Scale bars represent 1 mm 207 Rhipicephalus aquatilus sp. nov. (Acari: Ixodidae) FIG. 3- 8 Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov. (from Tanzania Tick Collection WN99) . Male: 3. Capitulum, dorsal. 4. Spiracle . 5. Adanal plates. Female: 6. Capitulum , dorsal. 7. Scutum. 8. Genital aperture. SEMS by J.F. Putterill 208 I\) 0 <0 TABLE 1 Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov.-material examined No. of ticks Date of Depository & accession no. Host Locality collection d' 'i' UGANDA Nuttall1714• 14 6 Tragelaphus spekei Entebbe (oo•o4'N, 32°28'E) 9 Sept. 1911 Nuttall 3949 a 1 1 T. spekei Luwafu (on Koja Experimental Stock Farm). (c. oo•10'N, 32°47'E) May 1933 BM (NH)a 2 1 T. spekei Entebbe 11 Jan. 1933 OP 3143 iib 2 2 T. spekei Locality unknown ? RML 96004c (JGM/ AHRC 65/1045) 0 1 Panthera leo Nyabushozi, Ankole (00.12'S, 30.48'E) 9 Oct. 1965 JGM/AHRC 67/3032 3 3 T. spekei Lake Mburo, Ankole (00°40'S, 30°56'E) 27 Feb. 1967 JGM/AHRC 67/3250 0 3 P. pardus Lake Mburo, Ankole 27 Nov. 1967 TANZANIA WN99a, OP 3143 i b 9 7d T. spekei Kaisho, Karagwe (01.19'S, 30°37'E) (swamp) 14 Aug. 1959 BK/64 a 1 0 Bovine Nyakatoke village, Rubale Gombolola (01 °36'S, 31 °28'E) 8 July 1958 BK/77" 1 0 Bovine Bukwale village, Kanyigo Gombolola (01 •o1 'S, 31 °44'E) 15 July 1959 KG/8" 0 1 Bovine Kahanga village, Nyaishoze Gombolola (c. 02°00'S, 31 °02'E) 26 July 1958 MW/40" 0 1 Bovine Mbale village and Gunguli, edge of Smith Sound (03°04'S, 32°48'E) 28 Oct. 1958 ZAMBIA RML 120946c 10 14 T. spekei Lake Bangweulu (11 •o5'S, 29°45'E) 1 Sept. 1991 OP 3143 iiib(T.C. 737) 0 1 Bovine Limulunga (15°09'S, 23°1 O'E) 31 Mar. 1982 OP 3143 ivb (T.C. 770) 0 1 Bovine Limulunga April1982 • Natural History Museum, London. (Collection nos. WN99, BK/64, BK/77, KG/8 and MW/40 are in the Tanzania Tick Collection deposited in this museum) b Onderstepoort Tick Collection, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute c U.S. National Tick Collection " 2 d'd' and 2 'i' 'i' from collection WN99 have now been mislaid Collector S.A. Neave W.F. Poulton R.W.M. Mettam J.G. Matthyse J.G. Matthyse J.G.Matthyse J.G. Matthyse Mrs G. Tullock G.H. Yeoman G.H.Yeoman Vet. Guard Sospeta G.H.Yeoman R.G. Pegram R.G. Pegram (_ ~ z m OJ ~ ~ r ;:>:: m JJ (_ m ;:>:: m JJ ~ z (f) Qo JJ Q -u m (j) JJ ~ ;;:;: Rhipicephalus aquatilus sp. nov. (Acari: Ixodidae) GENITAL APERTURE (Fig . 8). Situated between coxae II; V-shaped, arms of V gentle sigmoid curves; area within the opening not bulging. IMMATURE STAGES. Unknown BIOLOGY IN THE FIELD To date we have seen 15 collections of R. aquatilis from four host species in Uganda, north-western Tanzania and Zambia: cattle (six collections); sita-tunga (seven collections); and one each from lion (Panthera leo) and leopard (Panthera pardus) (Table 1, Fig. 9). The collections from the sitatunga comprised 41 d'd' and 34 ~ ~ of R. aquatilis, while the eight collections from the other three host spe-cies comprised only 2 d'd' and 8 ~ ~. . ·-•'"1 ... _ , ( i \ 24 i • \ 0 0 ZAMBIA .. FIG. 9 Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov.- distribution . ..., / i All the hosts from which these ticks were obtained were located in lakeside, swampy or seasonally flooded areas. Nearly half of them were sitatunga. According to Skinner & Smithers (1990) "sitatunga 210 are semi-aquatic, spending the greater part of their lives in dense papyrus, Cyperus papyrus, and reed beds, Phragmites mauritianus, in swamp areas in water up to about a metre deep." The cattle from which two of the collections in Tanzania were made were grazing in similar conditions . Those from Bu-kwale village (BK/77) were at the edge of a swamp with tall, coarse grass and patches of swamp forest. Those near the edge of Smith Sound (MW/40) were in one of the seasonally inundated, shallow, internal-drainage grassland areas known as mbuga through-out Tanzania and among lake shore rushes (G.H . Yeoman, unpublished data 1958; Yeoman & Walker 1967). In western Zambia, Limulunga-where two of the other collections on cattle were obtained-is in Mushibe woodland (Guibourtia coleosperma), ad-jacent to the seasonally inundated Zambezi flood-plain grasslands (Loudetia sp.) (Pegram eta/. 1986). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We sincerely thank Mr A . Olwage for the line draw-ings of the male and female of R. aquatilis ; Mr J.F. Putterill for taking the scanning electron micro-graphs, Miss Heloise Heyne for printing these photo-graphs, and Mrs A.S. Meiring for processing our manuscript for publication . This research was supported in part by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant A 1-30026 and a research fellowship at the Onder-stepoort Veterinary Institute to J.E. Keirans . REFERENCES KEIRANS, J.E. 1985. George Henry Falkiner Nuttall and the Nut· tall tick catalogue. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington D.C.: U.S. Govern· ment Printing Office (Miscellaneous Publication; no. 1438) . MATTHYSSE, J.G. & COLBO, M.H. 1987. The ixodid ticks of Uganda, together with species pertinent to Uganda because of their present known distribution. College Park, Maryland: Entomological Society of America. PEGRAM, R.G. , PERRY, B.D., MUSISI , F.L. & MWANAUMO, B. 1986. Ecology and phenology of ticks in Zambia: seasonal dynamics on cattle. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 2:25-45. SKINNER, J.D. &SMITHERS, R.H.N.1990. Themammalsofthe southern African subregion. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. YEOMAN, G.H. & WALKER, JANE B. 1967. The ixodid ticks of Tanzania. A study of the zoogeography of the Ixodidae of an East African country. London: Commonwealth Institute of Entomology. 

Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov. (Acari: Ixodidae), a new tick species parasitic mainly on the sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, in East and Central Africa

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Rhipicephalus aquatilis sp. nov. (Acari: Ixodidae), a new tick species parasitic mainly on the sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekei, in East and Central Africa

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