Tick Identification: North America

Tick Identification is extremely important for a number of reasons; the most important of which, is figuring out what pathogens a tick may carry (and transmit). While it’s typically much easier to identify an adult tick, immature ticks can also transmit diseases.

Of the 800+ species of ticks found throughout the world, only a few are known to bite and transmit disease to humans. There are nine are found in the United States. Naturally occurring populations of the ticks described on this website do not occur in Alaska, however, the brown dog tick is endemic to Hawaii.

If you don’t see exactly the tick you’re looking for, it might be a Tick Lookalike!
Check them all out on this page.

 

Click on a Tick to Learn More

TICK ID BAR TOP HEADERTICK ID BAR LINEAmerican Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis)TICK ID BAR LINEBlacklegged Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis)TICK ID BAR LINEBrown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)TICK ID BAR LINECayenne Tick (Amblyomma mixtum)TICK ID BAR LINEEast Asian Longhorned Tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis)TICK ID BAR LINEGroundhog Tick (Ixodes cookei)TICK ID BAR LINEGulf Coast Tick (Amblyomma maculatum)TICK ID BAR LINELone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)TICK ID BAR LINEPacific Coast Tick (Dermacentor occidentalis)TICK ID BAR LINERocky Mountain Wood Tick (Dermacentor andersoni)TICK ID BAR LINEWestern Blacklegged Deer Tick (Ixodes pacificus)

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Tick Identification: How To

Want to learn more about tick identification — like what to look for on a tick to help identify one tick species from another?

Check out our new How To ID a Tick page!