Amblyomma gemma D ö nitz, 1909

Guglielmone, Alberto A., Nava, Santiago & Robbins, Richard G., 2023, Geographic distribution of the hard ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae) of the world by countries and territories, Zootaxa 5251 (1), pp. 1-274 : 47

46. Amblyomma gemma D ö nitz, 1909 .

Afrotropical: 1) Djibouti, 2) Eritrea, 3) Ethiopia, 4) Kenya, 5) Saudi Arabia (south), 6) Somalia, 7) Tanzania, 8) Uganda, 9) Yemen ( Yeoman & Walker 1967, Walker 1974, Pegram 1976, Hoogstraal et al. 1981, Walker & Olwage 1987, Lynen et al. 2007, Kolonin 2009, Burridge 2011, Abdally et al. 2020, Peter et al. 2021).

Yeoman & Walker (1967) and Walker & Olwage (1987) cautioned that the female of Amblyomma gemma is morphologically indistinguishable from that of Amblyomma hebraeum . Yeoman & Walker (1967) and Walker (1974) added that females of Amblyomma gemma and Amblyomma eburneum are easily confused with one another. Morel (2003) cited many records of confusion between females of Amblyomma gemma , Amblyomma eburneum and Amblyomma hebraeum , and stated that literature diagnoses of Amblyomma gemma appear to be more often based on ecological considerations than on morphological characters. Therefore, the geographic distribution of Amblyomma gemma includes an element of uncertainty.

Hoogstraal et al. (1981) believed that several records of Amblyomma gemma from Saudi Arabia were the result of introductions, implying that this species is not established there, but there is evidence to the contrary ( Abdally et al. 2020). Kolonin (2009) included Yemen within the geographic distribution of Amblyomma gemma , but the only specimen found in that country by 1987 was thought to have been imported from Africa ( Walker & Olwage 1987). However, Hoogstraal et al. (1981) reported several specimens of Amblyomma gemma in Saudi Arabia that had been collected from camels imported from Yemen, and both countries are included here within the range of Amblyomma gemma . Thus, the geographical distribution of Amblyomma gemma includes the Arabian Peninsula. Even so, Wassef et al. (1997) did not recognize the presence of local populations of Amblyomma gemma on the Arabian Peninsula.

It is uncertain whether Amblyomma gemma is established in the United Arab Emirates ( Khan et al. 1997). This tick has been found in Egypt, but it is not established in that country, according to Okely et al. (2021, 2022). The United Arab Emirates and Egypt are provisionally excluded from the range of Amblyomma gemma .