Black-legged Tick (or Deer Tick)

Wooded areas, tall grass, and leaf litter where moisture levels are high and hosts are frequent.

Obligate hematophages; they feed exclusively on the blood of mammals, birds, and occasionally reptiles.

They exhibit 'questing' behavior, where they climb to the tips of vegetation and wait for a host to brush by. They have a two-year life cycle consisting of egg, larva, nymph, and adult stages.

Major public health risk as primary vectors for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. They provide little benefit to humans, though they serve as a food source for some birds and reptiles in the ecosystem.