Ixodidae, “hard” ticks

Ixodidae, "hard" ticks

About 20 species of hard ticks occur in Kansas, but most are associated only with wildlife and seldom parasitize domestic animals or people.

Description: wingless arthropods lacking obvious body segmentation and with no true head; 8-legged as adults; flattened dorsovent-rally, often teardrop-shaped from dorsal view; dorsolateral eye spots on body, except on Ixodes species which are eyeless.

Domestic animals affected: All domestic animals and humans may be parasitized by one to several species of hard ticks, each.

Damage caused: All ticks are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites; most species feed only a few days in each crawling stage and spend most of their lives off the host. Blood loss is seldom significant, but many diseases are vectored by hard ticks including: anaplasmosis, tular-emia, Lyme disease, Q fever, Rocky Mt. spotted fever, and ehrlichioses and babesioses (piroplasmoses) of various animals. Toxin in saliva of many species can cause paralysis in the host.

Development: gradual metamorphosis: egg, 6-legged larva ("seed tick"), 8- legged nymph, adult.

Generational time: one to two years for species that occur in Kansas.

Ovipositional site: on the soil beneath vegetation, leaves, etc. or in cracks in the soil; the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus oviposits in cracks or crevices in doghouses, kennels, homes.

Habitat, feeding: Larvae and nymphs of hard ticks such as the brown dog tick and the winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, feed on the same host species as adults do. In most species there is a tendency for larvae to feed on small mammals and ground-nesting birds, nymphs on the same kinds of hosts and on medium-sized mammals, and adults on medium-sized and large animals. Off the host, ticks are quiescent near the soil line as they molt or oviposit; after hatching or molting, ticks that are ready to feed again climb onto vegetation and quest for passing hosts.

Method of dispersal or infestation: Short-distance dispersal is accom- plished by crawling (attracted to CO₂, host odors, warmth); longer dispersal by being carried on hosts or hosts being transported.

Seasonality: varies with species; in Kansas our most common species (Dermacentor variabilis, the American dog tick, and Amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick) are active as early as late February and as late as November but are most evident from mid-April through August. Human and animal infestation by Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick) is most common in November and December; animals become infested by the winter tick, D. albipictus, in the fall and carry them throughout the winter.


		For additional information contact:
		Ludek Zurek Ph.D. Medical and Veterinary Entomology Department of Entomology Kansas State University Manhattan KS 66506 (785) 532-4731 lzurek@ksu.edu