Blacklegged Tick (Female) - Ixodes scapularis

I spotted this little lady on a tree! She was close to 5 feet up, which is unusual as they normally stay closer to the ground. I "played" with her a bit by blowing on her to make her quest (wave front legs in the air).

Adult, female blacklegged (commonly called deer ticks) have black heads and dorsal shields, dark red abdomens, and 8 legs.

Habitat: Spotted on a tree on the edge of a bog

The lifecycle of blacklegged ticks generally lasts two years. During this time, they go through four life stages: egg, six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, and eight-legged adult. They are three-host ticks, which means that they must have one bloodmeal during each life stage (larva, nymph, adult) in order to survive. In addition, blacklegged ticks are the main vector of Lyme disease in North America. They can also transmit other diseases such as Babesiosis, Powassan, and Anaplasmosis.

comments (2)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Your expertise shows! Memorable fact I take from it is 6-legged larvae -> 8-legged nymph. Strange! Posted 6 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks! Definitely strange. I never liked working with ticks. They creep me out. I had a job dissecting them and extracting salivary glands. I also had to hook them up to tiny tubes and collect their drool. Those tasks were interesting at least, but going out in the field to collect ticks really sucks. You get covered in them. Ughhhh. Posted 6 years ago

The Blacklegged Tick

"Ixodes scapularis" is a hard-bodied tick of the eastern and northern Midwestern United States. It is a vector for several diseases of animals, including humans and is known as the deer tick owing to its habit of parasitizing the white-tailed deer. It is also known to parasitize mice, lizards, migratory birds, etc. especially while the tick is in the larva or nymph stage.

Info 23 0

Similar species: Ticks

Species identified by Christine Young