Ixodes scapularis is primarily found in the eastern half of the United States and Ixodes pacificus is primarily found in the western states of California, Oregon, Washington and eastward into Nevada, Utah and Idaho.ĭeer ticks can sometimes be confused with other tick species, but generally are smaller than most ticks. Livestock and domestic animals can also be hosts. Named for their propensity to feed on white-tailed deer and other Western deer species, these ticks may also feed on other small and large mammals as hosts, including humans. Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) and the Western blacklegged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) are also known as deer ticks and are often mistaken for brown dog ticks. Deer Ticksĭeer ticks are also in the family Ixodidae.
The Rocky Mountain wood tick can transmit Colorado tick fever, tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever to humans. This phenomenon is known as transovarial transmission. Overwintering American dog tick larvae are of special interest because they can acquire the disease organism that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever by hatching from an infected egg and are infected with the disease without feeding on an infected host. The American dog tick is the primary tick vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the eastern United States and can also transmit tularemia.
Neither of these ticks is considered a vector of Lyme disease, but they do transmit other diseases and both species are known to cause tick paralysis, a condition triggered by a toxin that is released from the tick’s salivary glands when taking a blood meal. Both species have six legs in the larval stage eight legs in the nymphal and adult stages and undergo a life cycle that consists of four stages: eggs, larvae, nymphs and adults. The males are slightly smaller than the females in the adult stage. Both have a dorsal plate on their back called the scutum, and their mouthparts are visible when viewed from above the tick. They are dark brown in color with silver-gray or whitish coloring on their back. Wood Ticksīoth species of wood ticks are members of the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks. The common name deer tick is somewhat antiquated, but is still a frequently used name that is now correctly referred to as blacklegged tick. Deer ticks usually refer to the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus), while wood tick refers to the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) and the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). Deer ticks and wood ticks are broadly descriptive common names that are often used to refer to four species of ticks.
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