This photograph depicts a dorsal view of a female Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum. This tick species is a known vector for Rickettsial organisms, Rickettsia parkeri, and Ehrlichia ruminantium, formerly Cowdria ruminantium. R. parkeri is a member of the spotted fever group of rickettsial diseases affecting humans, while E. ruminantium causes ?heartwater disease?, an infectious, noncontagious, tick-borne disease of domestic and wild ruminants, including cattle, sheep, goats, antelope, and buffalo.