Bothriocroton hydrosauri
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| Bothriocroton hydrosauri | |
|---|---|
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| Light micrograph of female Bothriocroton hydrosauri | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Ixodida |
| Family: | Ixodidae |
| Genus: | Bothriocroton |
| Species: | B. hydrosauri |
| Binomial name | |
| Bothriocroton hydrosauri | |
| Synonyms | |
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Bothriocroton hydrosauri, commonly known as the southern reptile tick,[1] is a hard-bodied tick species endemic to Australia.[2]
Bothriocroton hydrosauri is distributed across southern Australia, with populations in southeastern New South Wales to the Eyre Peninsula, Tasmania, and along the southwestern Western Australia coast, from Esperance to Margaret River. Under current phylogenetic classifications, B. hydrosauri specimens are not found above 33°S.[3]
Bothriocroton hydrosauri is a generalist reptile tick, infesting a variety of Australian lizards and snakes. Rarely, they can parasitise humans. B. hydrosauri is a vector of Rickettsia honei, which causes Flinders Island spotted fever.[4]
Bothriocroton hydrosauri is a constitutive species of the three-tick problem of Austral ecology. The phenomenon sees the geographic distributions of three reptile ticks - Amblyomma limbatum, Bothriocroton hydrosauri and Amblyomma albolimbatum - inexplicably remaining allopatric despite their proximity around Bundey Bore Station, South Australia.[5]