Amblyomma

A genus of ornate, hard ticks (family Ixodidae) characterized by having eyes, festoons, and deeply imbedded ventral plates near the festoons in males. [ambly- + G. omma, eye, vision]

- A. americanum the Lone Star tick, a species that is an important pest and vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, found primarily in the southern United States and northern Mexico; it occurs on dogs and many other hosts, including domestic animals, birds, and humans, whom it bites in larval, nymphal, and adult stages.

- A. cajennense the Cayenne tick, a species that is an important pest in southern Texas, Central and South America, and the larger Caribbean islands, and a vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Mexico and Central and South America; all stages attack humans and many species of domestic and wild animals.

- A. hebraeum the South African bont tick, an important vector of heartwater in southern Africa.

- A. maculatum the Gulf Coast tick, a species that is a pest of livestock in the southeastern United States.

- A. variegatum the tropical bont tick, a serious pest of domestic livestock and an important vector of heartwater in Africa and the Caribbean; it is closely associated with the development of severe clinical dermatophilosis in cattle in the Caribbean.

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Am·bly·om·ma .am-blē-'äm-ə n a genus of ixodid ticks including the lone star tick (A. americanum) of the southern U.S. and the African bont tick (A. hebraeum)

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n.

a genus of hard tick, several species of which are responsible for transmitting tick typhus. The bite of this tick can also give rise to a serious and sometimes fatal paralysis.

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Am·bly·om·ma (am″ble-omґə) [ambly- + Gr. omma eye] a genus of ticks of the family Ixodidae, some of which transmit diseases.