Community identification

Dog tick

Dermacentor variabilis

Order & Family: Order Ixodida, Family Ixodidae
Size: 3 mm to 5 mm unfed, can expand up to 15 mm when fully engorged with blood.

Natural Habitat

Grassy areas, wooded paths, and low vegetation where they wait to latch onto passing hosts.

Strictly hematophagous, feeding on the blood of mammals including dogs, rodents, and humans.

Questing for hosts from vegetation, attaching firmly to skin, and feeding slowly over several days before dropping off to molt or lay eggs.

Risks include transmitting serious pathogens such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia; they offer no notable ecological benefits to humans.