American Dog Tick
Dermacentor variabilis
Description 2
Dermacentor variabilis, often known as the American Dog Tick, is a host tick that occurs mainly in the eastern United States, where adults are commonly found on dogs.These ticks generally feed on smaller mammals as larvae and nymphs and on larger mammals as adults. Although often found on dogs, these ticks will also feed on larger animals, such as cattle, horses, and even humans. Adults are vectors for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and canine tick paralysis. The 8-legged adult male and female ticks are typically brown to reddish-brown in color with gray/silver markings on their scutum (dorsal shield). Nymphs are about 0.9 mm long and a pale, yellowish brown before feeding; they become slate gray when engorged. Both larvae and nymphs have red markings near their eyes and lack any white on the scutum.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/5830820447
- Adapted by okaloosascience from a work by (c) Shapiro, Leo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/17763947
