ORIGINAL RESEARCH

 

A century of tick taxonomy in South Africa

 

 

I.G. Horak

Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa

 

 

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ABSTRACT

Eighty ixodid tick species, 25 argasid tick species and Nuttalliella namaqua occur in South Africa. Twenty-one of the 80 ixodid species and two of the argasid species occur only in this country, while N. namaqua is present only in South Africa and Namibia. Forty-six of the 80 ixodid species and 16 of the 25 argasid species as well as N. namaqua have been described as new species since 1908. People working in South Africa have written or contributed to the descriptions of 24 of these 63 new species, while foreign researchers have described the remainder. New species indigenous to South Africa are still being discovered, while the names of some species, well known because of their veterinary importance, have been altered.

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REFERENCES

All authors mentioned in the descriptive text have been listed, but only South African authors or foreign authors that worked in South Africa at the time at which they described particular tick species have been included in the list of references.

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