Numbat Tick Ixodes myrmecobii Roberts, 1962

(after Barker & Barker 2023): For the female, I. myrmecobii is closest, morphologically, to I. cornatus but these may be distinguished by the greater length of the dorsal, tongue-like, prolongation on palpal article 1 adjoining this article’s insertion on the basis, and by the apically rounded spur on coxa I in I. myrmecobii. The scutum is also more broadly rounded posteriorly and the basis bears carinae ventrally in I. myrmecobii compared to I. cornuatus. Regarding the male, one of us D. Barker modified the dichotomous key of Roberts (1970) to accommodate the five males of Ixodes spp. that have been described or re-described since Roberts (1970): I. barkeri, I. eudyptidis, I. laridis, I. myrmecobii, and I. victoriensis.

• native

• Western Australia