TICKS

Brown Dog Tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus

Order: Parasitiformes (Ticks)

Size: 1⁄8" or larger

Habitat: Yards, homes, on dogs or other mammals

Range: Throughout North America

Ticks are considered a kind of large mite, and as such are related to the spiders (not insects). They have a tear-shaped body with no segmentation, eight legs of uniform length, piercing mouthparts, and no antennae. The abdomen is capable of enlarging greatly when engorged with blood to become many times the normal size. They are uniformly reddish brown. Dog ticks feed by creating a small incision through which they suck blood from the host animal, particularly a dog, but other mammals may also serve as hosts. This tick can undergo an entire life cycle indoors, unlike other ticks that must spend at least a portion of their lives out of doors. Throughout the life stages from egg to larvae to nymph to adult, it may transfer to as many as three different hosts, and females lay clumps of thousands of tiny eggs. Although these ticks cause irritation and itching in dogs, they are relatively harmless to humans.