![]() ![]() These blood-sucking ticks were vaulted into the public consciousness in the 1970’s when it was discovered that they are the primary (and possibly only) transmitters for Lyme disease. Lyme disease is a debilitating, though rarely fatal, infection that is often misdiagnosed because early symptoms closely resemble the flu. The loathsome deer tick, now known as the black-legged tick, is defined more by the disease it spreads than by its own characteristics. Male American Dog ticks are typically brown to reddish-brown in color with gray or silver markings on their backs. Females can be identified by their large off-white markings against a dark brown body. American dog ticks can survive for up to 2 years at any given stage if no host is found. The adult American Dog ticks commonly attack humans and can transmit diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Tularemia. They feed on a variety of hosts ranging in size from mice to deer. The American Dog ticks are found predominantly in areas with little or no tree cover, such as grassy fields and scrub-land, as well as along walkways and trails. When feeding, they attach themselves onto their host and use a salivary fluid in their mouth as anesthetic so that when they suck blood, the host will not feel it. This species of tick readily attach themselves and feed on dogs, other household pets and humans. Both the male and female species are a reddish brown color in the adult stage. A male lone star will not have the white spot and will instead have some spotting along its back. The female of the species is easily distinguishable by the white star shaped spot on its back, which acts as part of its shield. The Lone Star tick is a common type of tick mainly found in the south central and south eastern parts of the US, although recently the species has spread across a larger area of the country. It makes it hard to believe that it’s even the same pest! One aspect of ticks that amazes people and leads to mis-identification is a tick can enlarge itself 20-50 times its size when engorged with blood and look nothing like itself before engorgement. We encounter most ticks after they’ve attached and fed for some amount of time. It sounds simple enough but proves difficult because ticks are small and difficult to see without the help of a magnifier. First is to recognize if the pest is a tick, then determine what group the tick belongs to. The most difficult part of identifying a tick is knowing what to look for. ![]()
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