~WO00D TICKS how to control them in infested places 
The term “wood ticks” is applied to several species of 
ticks so similar in appearance and habits that few persons 
can tell one from another. 
Wood ticks feed on the blood of animals, and may bite 
people. Their bites are painful. and some of them carry 
diseases. They cause economic losses among farm 
animals and are serious pests of dogs. 
The ticks infest wooded or brushy areas and grassy 
fields. They are often found in recreational areas and 
lawns. and are sometimes found in homes in small num- 
bers. When ticks are found in relatively large numbers 
in homes. they are not wood ticks; see section “Ticks 
in Homes” in this publication. Wood ticks are an annoy- 
ance and a health hazard to farmers, woodsmen, and mili- 
tary personnel; to campers, picnickers, vacationers, hunt- 
ers. and hikers; and to persons who live in rural and 
suburban areas. 
You can control wood ticks by applying insecticides. 
You can protect yourself by applying a repellent to your 
clothing before entering an infested area. 
Species .. . Nature of Injury 
The more common species of wood ticks are the Rocky 
Mountain wood tick.’ the American dog tick,” the lone 
star tick,* and the black-legged tick.* 
The Rocky Mountain wood tick and the American dog 
tick transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia 
(rabbit fever), which are diseases of man, and anaplas- 
mosis, a disease of cattle. 
Adults of these ticks can also cause a form of paralysis 
in animals and people in rare instances when they attach 
over the spinal cord or at the base of the skull. 
The lone star tick can transmit Rocky Mountain 
spotted fever, tularemia, and Bullis fever. The black- 
legged tick transmits piroplasmosis, a disease of dogs, and 
anaplasmosis. 
Life Stages . . . Appearance 
Wood ticks go through four stages of development— 
egg, larva, nymph, and adult. 
The eggs are usually laid in masses in thick clumps of 
erass. Each female lays only one mass, which contains 
3,000 to 6,000 eggs. 
The eggs hatch into larvae, which attach themselves to 
host animals. In a few davs the larvae fill themselves 
with blood, drop to the ground, and shed their skins, or 
molt. The larvae have become nymphs. 
The nymphs attach themselves to host animals, become 
engorged with blood in a few days, and drop to the ground 
and molt. The nymphs have become adults. 
Adults of both sexes attach themselves to host animals. 
They mate on-the hosts. They become engorged with 
* Dermacentor andersoni. °D. variabilis. 
> Amblyomma americanum. 
blood in 5 to 13 days. After engorgement. the females 
drop to the ground, lay their eggs. and die. 
The larvae are about '40 inch long when unfed. En- 
gorged larvae and unfed nymphs are about 46 inch long. 
Engorged nymphs and unfed adults are about “16 inch 
long. and engorged females may be % inch long. The 
males do not enlieee as they feed. 
The adults of the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the 
American dog tick are indistinguishable. The hard 
shields on their backs are liberally spotted or streaked 
with white. The adult of the lone star tick is marked on 
the back with a small white dot or two small crescents. 
The adult of the black-legged tick has black legs, and has 
a shiny black shield on the back. 
Where They Occur .. . Habits 
The Rocky Mountain wood tick occurs in most of 
the Western States. It is most common in the Rocky 
Mountain region. 
Only the adult ticks bite people. The larvae and 
nymphs feed on small animals. especially rodents. 
The life cycle of this tick usually extends over a period 
of 2 years. All stages of the tick are abundant and active 
during the summer. Nymphs and adults survive over 
winter. 
The American dog tick occurs throughout the United 
States, except in the Rocky Mountain region. It is most 
abundant in coastal areas and in the Mississippi Valley. 
The larvae and nymphs feed largely on rodents. The 
adults feed on dogs. cattle, and “other large animals. 
They will bite people. 
In the northern part of the United States the adult ticks 
are abundant in the spring and early summer; few are 
encountered after August 1. In the southern part of the 
United States their activity is less sharply influenced by 
change of season. 
The lone star tick is most common in the coastal 
States from North Carolina to Texas, and in the 
Mississippi Valley. 
The ticks are usually well distributed over whatever 
area they infest, but they occur in the greatest numbers 
in habitual resting places of animals or in layers of leaves 
or duff in wooded areas. 
The larvae and nymphs feed on most mammals and 
ground-nesting birds. The adults feed on deer. cattle. 
horses, hogs, and many small animals. Larvae. nymphs. 
and adults will bite people. 
The larvae (often called seed ticks) crawl up vege- 
tation near the spot where the eggs hatched. They collect 
in clusters. The number of larvae in a cluster ranges 
from fewer than:a hundred to more'than a thousand. All 
or most of the larvae in a cluster cling to a person or 
animal that brushes against them. Many of the larvae 
‘Ixodes ricinus scapularis. 
