Brown Dog Tick
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
Summary 2
The Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) can transmit the Rickettsia bacteria that cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever and boutonneuse fever. This small, elongated, red-brown tick is unusual in that it can complete its entire life cycle indoors, facilitating its spread around the world. Although Brown Dog Ticks will feed on a wide variety of mammals (including humans), in the United States dogs are the preferred host and appear to be required to develop large infestations.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Valter Jacinto | Portugal, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/valter/3743607597/
- Adapted by okaloosascience from a work by (c) Shapiro, Leo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/17570881
