RHIPICEPHALUS-EXOPHTHALMOS SP-NOV, A NEW TICK SPECIES FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA, AND REDESCRIPTION OF RHIPICEPHALUS-OCULATUS NEUMANN, 1901, WITHWHICH IT HAS HITHERTO BEEN CONFUSED (ACARI, IXODIDA, IXODIDAE)

Rhipicephalus exophthalmos sp. nov., a species which has in the past b een confused with Rhipicephalus oculatus Neumann, 1901, is described a nd illustrated from laboratory-reared specimens. Preferred hosts for t he adults of this tick are various domestic and wild ungulates and har es. It is widely distributed in Namibia and in the southeastern Cape P rovince, South Africa, with only scattered records from elsewhere. The adults of R. oculatus are redescribed and illustrated, and the immatu re stages are described and illustrated for the first time. All stages feed virtually exclusively on leporids. It is common in parts of the eastern and southern Cape Province, with few records as yet from other parts of South Africa and Namibia.