Early in 2007, during a small-scale survey of the ticks infesting cattle in Azaguie about 50 km north of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, ticks, belonging to a species which to our knowledge had never been reported in West Africa before, were encountered. Boophilus microplus was the only member of this genus collected from cattle in the area. No Boophilus annulatus or Boophilus geigyi were recovered although they had previously been recorded in this region (Aeschlimann 1967). The collection site at Azaguie (5°37 15.63 N and 4°05 12.76 W) is situated at an altitude of 85 m above sea level and is best characterised as dense humid forest. The ticks were initially morphologically identiWed at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, using the identiWcation manual of Walker et al. (2003), after which some were sent to the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa for conWrmation. At the same time sequencing of the ITS2 region of some of the remaining specimens conWrmed the initial identiWcation. The exact means or route of introduction of B. microplus into the Ivory Coast has not been determined. It has, however, been documented that N’dama bulls were introduced from Lower Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1985, principally on to the Marahoue Ranch for genetic improvement and subsequently for the establishment of herds of improved cattle for local farmers (Shaw and Hoste 1987). As far as we know B. microplus does not occur in the Congo, nor has it ever been documented in the countries bordering the Ivory Coast. But it has been reported from Zambia immediately to the south (Berkvens et al. 1998).