page_title: Amblyomma sphenodonti
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Amblyomma sphenodonti / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Amblyomma sphenodonti, the tuatara tick
context_page_description: Amblyomma sphenodonti or the tuatara tick is a species that parasitises only the tuatara of New Zealand, and is not closely related to any other tick. It is found on just four of the twelve island groups where tuatara survive, preferring islands where the reptiles live in high densities. Larvae, nymphs, and adults all feed exclusively on tuatara blood, and ticks can survive for up to a year without a host. When tuatara are translocated, the tick has been lost or survives only in low densities in the new population.
context_section_description: Tuatara are reptiles that use burrows for shelter. Their ticks can spend over one year off their host and prefer the moist and dark habitats provided by these burrows. Their preference for humid and dark conditions may be an adaptive feature for remaining inside or finding burrows where the host resides. If copulation takes place off the host, ticks may use pheromones to locate a mate. Tuatara live in a variety of habitats and are parasitised by ticks in all of them. The density of ticks on tuatara are higher when the host lives in pasture than in canopy forest. Tuatara ticks mirror the nocturnal activity of tuatara. They are more mobile at night, which could increase the chance of unattached ticks finding a host. It could also reduce the likelihood of desiccation due to the increased humidity at night. They prefer attaching in positions on the back of the host, folds in the skin of the rear legs and the side of the body. Once attached, they feed on the host's blood. Unfed adult ticks have been observed to survive for over one year without their host.
caption: Tuatara ticks on the body of their host, Sphenodon punctatus
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