Amblyomma

Amblyomma is a genus of hard ticks. Some are disease vectors, for example for Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Brazil or ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis in the USA.

This genus is the third largest in the family Ixodidae, with its species primarily occupying the torrid zones of all the continents. The centre of species diversity is on the American continent, where half of all the species occur. On this continent, Amblyomma species reach far beyond the torrid zone, up to the 40th parallel in the Northern Hemisphere, to the 50th parallel in the Southern Hemisphere, and even reaches the alpine zone of the Andes.