Rhipicephalus microplus

Rhipicephalus microplus
female and male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Family:	Ixodidae
Genus:	Rhipicephalus
Subgenus:	Boophilus
Species:	R. microplus
Binomial name
Rhipicephalus microplus (Canestrini, 1888)
Synonyms
Boophilus annulatus australis Lahille, 1905 Boophilus annulatus calcaratus Sharif, 1928 Boophilus annulatus caudatus Lahille, 1905 Boophilus annulatus microdus Arnold, 1935 (misapplied name) Boophilus annulatus microplus Lahille, 1905 Boophilus australis Stiles & Hassall, 1901 Boophilus caudatus Lahille, 1905 Boophilus intraoculatus Minning, 1936 Boophilus microplus Lahille, 1905 Boophilus microplus annulatus Floch, 1956 Boophilus (Margaropus) annulatus australis Toumanoff, 1944 Boophilus (Palpoboophilus) minningi Kishida, 1936 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) caudatus Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) cyclops Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) distans Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) fallax Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) krijgsmani Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) longiscutatus Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) microplus Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) rotundiscutatus Minning, 1934 Boophilus (Uroboophilus) sharifi Minning, 1934 Haemaphysalis micropla Canestrini, 1888 Ixodes australis Ruotsalainen, 1903 (misapplied name) Margaropus annulatus argentinus Castellani & Chalmers, 1910 Margaropus annulatus australis Newstead, 1909 Margaropus annulatus caudatus Neumann, 1911 Margaropus annulatus mexicanus Macias Valadez, 1923 Margaropus annulatus microphilus Castellani & Chalmers, 1919 Margaropus annulatus microplus Rohr, 1909 Margaropus australis Manson, 1907 Margaropus caudatus Castellani & Chalmers, 1910 Margaropus microphilus Castellani & Chalmers, 1910 (misapplied name) Margaropus micropla Neumann, 1911 Margaropus microplus Hunter & Hooker, 1907 Palpoboophilus brachyuris Kishida, 1939 Palpoboophilus minningi Kishida, 1939 Rhipicaphalus annulatus caudatus Neumann, 1897 Rhipicaphalus australis Fuller, 1899 Rhipicephalus annulatus argentinensis Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus annulatus argentinus Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus annulatus australis Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus annulatus caudatus Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus annulatus microplus Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus annulatus microplus Neumann, 1901 Rhipicephalus caudatus Fuller, 1899 Rhipicephalus microplus Canestrini, 1890 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) argentinus Neumann, 1904 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Uroboophilus australis Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus caudatus Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus cyclops Schulze, 1936 Uroboophilus distans Schulze, 1935 Uroboophilus fallax Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus indicus Minning, 1936 Uroboophilus krijgsmani Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus longiscutatus Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus microplus Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus occidentalis Minning, 1936 Uroboophilus rotundiscutatus Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus sharifi Kishida, 1939 Uroboophilus sinensis Schulze, 1935

The Asian blue tick (Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Rhipicephalus microplus, or Boophilus microplus) is an economically important tick that parasitises a variety of livestock and wild mammal species,^[1] especially cattle, on which it is the most economically significant ectoparasite in the world.^[2] It is known as the Australian cattle tick, southern cattle tick, Cuban tick, Madagascar blue tick, and Puerto Rican Texas fever tick.^[3]

It is classified as a hard tick in the family Ixodidae. It is a small teardrop-shaped arachnid with a hardened plate called the scutum covering its head. Males are entirely covered in scutum on their backs with additional plates called festoons along their sides. The body can be brown or pale in nymphs and darkens as the tick matures. Adults have 8 cream-colored legs.^[1]

In R. microplus the hypostome has a hexagonal base (basis capitulum) which can be used as an identifying characteristic. Ticks may be identified by the arrangement of hair-like structures called setae. In R. microplus the setae are arranged in rows of two or three along the tick's body behind the scutum.^[1]