They also have mouthparts that are directed forward and are easily visible. Hard ticks can be distinguished by the presence of a plate (scutellum) on the back behind the head. Two families of ticks occur in Colorado, hard ticks (Ixodidae family) and soft ticks (Argasidae family). Photograph courtesy of David Shetlar, The Ohio State University. Photograph courtesy of the CDC Photo Image Library.įigure 11: “Ear ticks” present in the ear of a rabbit. Soft ticks may lay several masses of eggs. Photograph courtesy of Jim Kalisch, The University of Nebraska.įigure 10: An adult soft tick, laying a mass of eggs. The blacklegged tick, the main vector of the organism producing Lyme disease, does not occur in Colorado. The lone star tick and American dog tick occur rarely in Colorado, usually when carried on an animal. Photograph courtesy of Jim Kalisch, The University of Nebraska.įigure 8: Winter tick collected near Salida in March laying a mass of eggs.įigure 9: A comparison between blacklegged tick (top), lone star tick (bottom left) and the American dog tick. Photograph courtesy of David Shetlar, The Ohio State University.įigure 7: Top and bottom view of a male brown dog tick. Photograph courtesy of the Ken Gray Collection, Oregon State University.įigure 6: An adult female of the American dog tick before and after a blood meal. This is a position the ticks take when a potential host is detected. Photograph courtesy of the Ken Gray Collection, Oregon State University.įigure 5: Adult male of the Rocky Mountain wood tick questing on a plant stem. Tick larvae are extremely small and have only 3 pairs of legs. Image courtesy of the CDC Photo Image Library.įigure 4: First stage larvae of the winter tick. Photograph courtesy of the CDC Photo Image Library.įigure 3: Life stages of a hard tick (Ixodidae). Rocky Mountain wood tick is the most common tick that is found on humans and pets in Colorado.įigure 2: Adult female and male of the Rocky Mountain wood tick. Figure 1: Adult Rocky Mountain wood tick prior to feeding. Diseases spread by ticks in Colorado include Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia and relapsing fever. Ticks most affect humans by their ability to transmit pathogens that produce several important diseases. Fortunately, some of the most important tick species present elsewhere in the United States are either rare (lone star tick) or completely absent from the state (blacklegged tick). Almost all human encounters with ticks in Colorado involve the Rocky Mountain wood tick. Presently 27 species of ticks are known to occur in Colorado and Table 1 lists the more common ones. Problems related to blood loss do occur among wildlife and livestock, but they are rare. They are particularly common at higher elevations. Ticks are blood-feeding parasites of animals found throughout Colorado. To remove a tick, grasp it with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible and pull it straight out.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |