#Engorged deer tick vs engorged dog tick skin#
#Engorged deer tick vs engorged dog tick series#

scapularis as a Borrelia vector relies on its ability to limit the proliferation of the spirochaete. Ticks acquire Lyme disease microbes by feeding on infected mice and other small rodents as nymphs or larvae.

scapularis, cannot transmit Borrelia spirochaetes to ticks. ĭeer, the preferred mammalian hosts of adult I. The Centers for Disease Control's emerging infectious diseases department did a study in rural New Jersey of 100 ticks, and found 55% of the ticks were infected with at least one of the pathogens. It is possible for a tick to carry and transmit one of the co-infections and not Borrelia, making diagnosis difficult and often elusive. Deer ticks can be quite numerous and seemingly gregarious.Ĭo-infections complicate Lyme symptoms, especially diagnosis and treatment. In the spring, it can be one of the first invertebrates to become active. It can be active after a hard frost, as daytime temperatures can warm it enough to keep it actively searching for a host. Vertical passage (from mother to egg) of Borrelia is uncommon. Transtadial (between tick stages) passage of Borrelia burgdorferi is common. The following spring, the female lays several hundred to a few thousand eggs in clusters. After she is engorged, the tick drops off and overwinters in the leaf litter of the forest floor. Deer are the preferred host of the adult deer tick, but it is also known to feed on small rodents. Deer tick females latch onto a host and drink its blood for 4–5 days. The tick must take a blood meal at each stage before maturing to the next. Ixodes scapularis has a 2-year lifecycle, during which time it passes through three stages: larva, nymph, and adult.

In identifying an engorged tick, concentrating on the legs and upper part of the body is helpful. The tick itself is naturally black when unfed. When the deer tick has consumed a blood meal, its abdomen is a light grayish-blue color. scapularis (see photo below) could easily be mistaken for an entirely different tick. However, the abdomen that holds blood is much larger when engorged therefore, an engorged specimen of I. This is natural, since ticks are generally removed immediately upon discovery to minimize the chance of disease. Brown Dog ticks seldom attack humans.The image shown here-and in fact, most images of Ixodes scapularis that are commonly available-show an adult female that is unengorged, that is, an adult female that has not had a blood meal. Although the shield appears dark and similar in shape the shorter mouthparts of the brown dog tick are easy to identify.

#Engorged deer tick vs engorged dog tick series#

The shield does not change as the tick engorges and it is the key component, along with mouthparts in identifying different ticks.īecause the engorged deer tick is often confused with the brown dog tick, we have included the same photo series so you can compare the two species. Note the circular dark spot above the mouthpart. Left to Right: unengorged female, 1/4 engorged, 1/2 engorged and fully engorged. The changing face as the deer tick engorges

#Engorged deer tick vs engorged dog tick skin#

Repellents : Permethrin clothing treatment kills ticks and DEET based skin repellent helps repel them.ĭiseases: Lyme disease , Babesiosis, EhrlichiosisĬlockwise from top: female, male, larval, nymph Mouthpart is much longer than brown dog tick mouthparts. Sheep Tick – Ixodes ricinus – European Wood tickĭescription: Can be confused with Brown Dog tick during later engorgement due to shield design, see pictures below. Nick Names: Deer tick, Bear tick, Sheep tick, #(!&* TickĬommon Names: Western Black Legged tick, Black Legged tick, European Wood tick, Sheep tickįormal Names: Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes dammini (no longer correct), Ixodes pacificus, Ixodes ricinusĭeer tick – Black Legged tick – Ixodes scapularis – Ixodes dammini (no longer correct)īear Tick – Ixodes pacificus – Western Black Legged tick