A review of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Colombia: The risk of tick-borne diseases

This paper reviews the ixodid tick species that are present in Colombia. The different databases reported 50 species of ticks, of which 29 belong to Amblyomma: A. auricularium, A. cajennense sensu lato (s.l.); for Colombia A. calcaratum, A. coelebs, A. crassum, A. dissimile, A. geayi, A. goeldii, A. humerale, A. longirostre, A. maculatum, A. tigrinum, A. triste, A. mixtum, A. multipunctum, A. naponense, A. neumanni, A. nodosum, A. oblongoguttatum, A. ovale, A. pacae, A. pecarium, A. patinoi, A. rotundatum, A. sabanerae, A. scalpturatum, A. tapirellum, A. varium, A. incisum, A. parvum; two Haemaphysalis species: H. juxtakochi, H. leporispalustris, two Rhipicephalus species: R. (Boophilus) microplus, R. sanguineus s.s., two Dermacentor species: Anocentor (D.) nitens, D. imitans, and 15 species of Ixodes: I. affinis, I. andinus, I. auritulus, I. bocatorensis, I. boliviensis, I. brunneus, I. fuscipes, I. lasallei, I. loricatus, I. luciae, I. montoyanus, I. pararicinus, I. tapirus, I. tropicalis, I. venezuelensis. Some of these species need to be validated, their presence confirmed, and their role as a risk for human and animal health studied. Therefore, a countrywide survey of Ixodidae ticks would be of great value to update the information presented in this work.