H. rufipes is found only in the Nile Valley, never in extreme 

 Hesert areas. 



The hairy hyalomma is included in Wilson *s (1953) Amblyomma 

 gemma _ R. pravus (= R. neavi ) association (see page ), which 

 is found in areas where rainfall rarely exceeds 25 inches annually. 



The only ecological survey of this tick is that of Theiler 

 (1956) who lists the areas of its occurrence and absence in south- 

 ern Africa. It occurs in all desert and seraidesert areas with 

 rainfall up to thirty inches annually, but at higher altitudes 

 or in semitropical conditions, where the relative humidity is 

 higher, it is absent even though annual rainfall is little or 

 no greater than in some of the hotter, drier areas. It does 

 not occur in winter rainfall areas, where rain falls throughout 

 the year, or in coastal areas with high relative humidity as a 

 result of proximity to the sea. Temperature appears to be a 

 limiting factor of lesser importance since H. rufipes ranges 

 from hot deserts into areas with up to 120 "3ays of frost annual- 

 ly. Increase in temperature associated with increase in relative 

 hiomidity restricts the tick's range. Other factors being equal, 

 the hairy hyalomma occurs in most vegetational types except for- 

 ested areas of central Africa. In many regions it is active the 

 year around, but in others more so in summer than in winter. 



In Russia, H. rufipes has been reported (as H. impressum ) 

 from the western''deserts of Transcaucasia (Pomerantzev, Matikash- 

 vily, and Lototsky 19^0) and, in western Tadzhikistan, from 

 mountain pastures but not in the valleys (as H. aeqviipunc t at urn ) 

 (Galuzo and Bespalov 1935) • 



DISEASE RELATIONS 



MAN; Nymphs infected with boutonneuse fever (Rickettsia 

 conorii ) have been taken from a hare in South Africa. 



CATTLE: H. rufipes causes abscesses and sloughing of the 

 host skin. These areas often serve as points of penetration of 

 the screwworm Chrysomia bezziana Villem. This tick may also be 

 associated with footrot of sheep, a secondary infection by 



- AS9 - 



