Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Hard ticks (family Ixodidae) are morphologically categorized as "ornate" or "inornate" based on the patterns on their scutum (dorsal shield).
- Ornate ticks have colorful, metallic, or white patterns on their scutum.
- Inornate ticks have a plain, dark brown, or solid-colored scutum without any decorative patterns.
Detailed Explanation:
Let us classify the given tick species:
- (A) Amblyomma integrum: Ticks belonging to the genus Amblyomma are highly ornate, showing bright, colored spots or patterns on their scutum. Thus, (A) is an ornate tick.
- (B) Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus: This tick has a plain, unpatterned, dark brown scutum. Thus, (B) is an inornate tick.
- (C) Haemaphysalis bispinosa: Haemaphysalis species are uniformly dark-colored and lack any scutal ornamentation. Thus, (C) is an inornate tick.
- (D) Ixodes ricinus: Ixodes species are plain, dark-colored ticks and are always inornate. Thus, (D) is an inornate tick.
Therefore, the inornate ticks are (B), (C), and (D).
Step 2: Final Answer:
The correct combination is (B), (C) and (D) only, which corresponds to Option (D).