I started this page a few years ago to help people quantify and understand the risks of Lyme Disease, and to identify ticks that had bitten their families. UPDATE: In an amazing coincidence, I was recently bitten by a tick and treated prophylactically with Doxycycline for Lyme Disease. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. and here is a map showing how often Lyme Disease actually occurred in 2005 in the United States, County-by-County. The counties shown in black here account for 90% of all cases.Ĭlick the picture to see a more detailed view by county. Here is a map showing where the Centers for Disease Control expects to see Lyme Disease One of the most authoritative spots on the web for Lyme Disease info is Iowa State University also has good images, and even a few videos here: There is a wonderful page of very detailed photos of different tick species here: In all engorged ticks the scutum does not expand and is a good place to start for identification." " The white dot on the scutum is evident and identifies this tick as a Lone Star tick, which can also carry Lyme disease. Star Tick is a little bit larger, with an adult being as large as 1/3 of an inch unengorged, but can be easily differentiated from the Common Dog Tick by a white "Lone Star" dot on the back: The Western Black-Legged Tick is found primarily in the Pacific US and British Columbia.Īnd Amblyomma Americanum, or the Lone Star Tick, (which is found mainly in the southeastern US west into Texas pockets found in New Jersey, Fire Island, NY, and Prudence Island, RI). Pacificus, or the Western Black-Legged Tick which, and is VERY similar to I. The pencil gives a good sense of scale and both deer ticks and dog ticks are in the same shot:Īlso according to the RI Department of Health, there are two other species of ticks that carry Lyme disease: One is I. Here is another good picture to help differentiate between deer ticks and dog ticks. Lyme disease to Humans in late Spring and early Summer. It is the third one, the next-to-smallest one, that is primarily responsible for the transmission of ( Note that the scale is in CENTIMETERS, not inches.)įinally, here it is in actual size - 1.4 centimeters. Here is a zoomed-in close-up view of the 4 stages of the Deer Tick. Here is a female deer tick, greatly enlarged, shown with a dime for scale. Note that this is greatly enlarged to show detail. Section d shows unengorged adult male (black) and female (orange) ticks, and "e" shows engorged adult male and female ticks. This is primarily responsible for transmission of Lyme Disease to humans during the late springĪnd early summer. "b" shows unengorged nymps, which are only 1 to 2 mm in diameter. SectionĪ shows larval ticks, which are < 1mm in diameter. scapularis, (the Deer Tick), the tick that is primarily responsible for transmitting Lyme disease in the northern and north central United States. ![]() ![]() Shown below are the different stages of I. Then when they're engorged, they blow up like a big greyish/greenish blob (green or grey color tick). They are very nearly impossible to see on a dog, and can still be difficult to see even when engorged.Ĭommon dog tick can range in size from very small, but clearly visible, to quite large. The deer tick is very very very tiny, approximately the size of a fleck of black pepper. Scapularis, also called the Black-Legged Tick, or the Deer Tick. The tick that primarily carries lyme disease is I. But what if you've done all that, and you still find an engorged tick? You need to be able to differentiate, or identify, between the different tick species to avoid unnecessary worry and unnecessary trips to the vet. So how do I protect myself, my family -and my dog- from this terrible plague? Knowledge.
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