This species carries the pathogenic
Qalyub and
African swine fever viruses and the spirochetes
Borrelia crocidurae and
Borrelia hispanica. The tick feeds at night, ingesting
blood to repletion in about 15 minutes. Small mammals are the most common hosts; this species rarely bites humans, preferring other vertebrates. Major factors in their feeding relationship are mating, recent feeding, and size. Some strains of
entomopathogenic fungi have been found to be effective against this tick and others in the related genus
Ornithodoros in a study which concluded the fungi could be used as
biocontrol agents for argasid ticks; the name of this is called
hyperparasitism. ==References==