About Amblyomma maculatum Koch, 1844
Amblyomma maculatum, commonly known as the Gulf Coast tick, is a tick species belonging to the genus Amblyomma. Immature Gulf Coast ticks usually infest ground-dwelling small mammals and birds, and cotton rats are often a particularly favored host. Recorded hosts of this tick include: Geothlypis trichas, Cardinalis cardinalis, Passerina ciris, Sialia sialis, Thryothorus ludovicianus, Troglodytes aedon, Zonotrichia albicollis, domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), fallow deer (Dama dama), human (Homo sapiens), Eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris), cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus), hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), domestic pig (Sus scrofa), and marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris). In 2013, Rickettsia parkeri, the infectious agent that causes American tick bite fever, was detected in a female A. maculatum collected at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Smyrna, Delaware. This detection marked the first evidence that this human-pathogenic pathogen is associated with the Gulf Coast tick in the state of Delaware.
