Ticks In Colorado Archives - Colorado Tick-Borne Disease Awareness Association (COTBDAA)

Dermacentor albipictus (the winter tick)

October 5, 2020

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Dermacentor albipictus (the winter tick) Distribution Dermacentor albipictus is one of the most common North American Dermacentor species. This tick has large geographic distribution in North America. Its distribution includes most of the USA, southern Canada, and 26 states in Mexico. Hosts Hosts include domestic and wild ungulates, such as horses, cattle, elk, moose, and deer, mountain goats and sheep. It has been also found on dogs, cats and humans. This is a one-host tick, meaning that it attaches to a host individual as a larva, molts to the next stage while still attached, and normally does not drop from that host individual until after it becomes an engorged female; males do not engorge but do feed. Because winter ticks are a one host species of large mammals, they are...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Dermacentor parumapertus

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Dermacentor parumapertus Distribution This western hard tick species may be found at lower elevations in parts of Texas (west of the 100th meridian), and throughout the states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. It is also found in southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, and northwestern states of Mexico. Morphometric analyses suggest that populations of D. parumapertus in the USA comprise more than a single species. Hosts Hosts are primarily rabbits, hares and other rodents especially for immature stages, but adults have also been found on mule deer and coyote. Hunters and field biologists are most likely to encounter this species through contact with wildlife, especially rabbits. It has been reported to bite humans. Vector Status Because of its nearly exclusive association with rabbits and...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Haemaphysalis chordeilis

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Haemaphysalis chordeilis (bird tick or grouse tick) Distribution Haemaphysalis chordeilis occurs in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming in the US, and in Canada from British Columbia east into Ontario. Hosts One of the earliest recorded collections of this tick is a nymph from a killdeer (Charadrius vociferus L.), from Fort Collins, Colorado. Hosts include mainly ground-dwelling, especially gallinaceous birds and incidentally, mammals, including humans. Haemaphysalis chordeilis has infested quail in Texas in excess of 80 ticks per bird. Vector Status This tick may play a role in a sylvatic cycle of the agent of tularemia and has been reported to kill turkeys in multiple locations in the US. Resources H Joel Hutcheson,...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (the rabbit tick)

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (the rabbit tick) Distribution This widespread tick species occurs almost anywhere its hosts reside in North America and parts of northern and central South America. Hosts Hosts include lagomorphs, for all stages; birds, for immature stages; and rarely, humans. However, more recent observations show feeding on various ungulates including white-tailed deer, and cattle. And, in Colorado, a collection from a domestic dog also occurred. During years that Sylvilagus and Lepus spp. become abundant, this tick may also build large populations in Colorado. Vector Status It can transmit the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and has been shown to be naturally infected with the agents of Q fever and tularemia. Silverwater virus was also isolated from all life stages of this tick collected in WI and in Alberta, Canada. Recently,...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Ixodes angustus

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Ixodes angustus Distribution This tick is widely distributed throughout North America, including Canada, the United States and northern Mexico. Distribution in the US includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. It is also found in northern Mexico, as well as all of the southern Canadian provinces, from British Columbia east to Newfoundland. Hosts Hosts include nearly 100 species, primarily rodents and insectivores, but also many of their predators (e.g., domestic dogs and cats), as well as birds and occasionally humans. It is considered a "nidicolous" species, meaning that it does not “quest” widely in ground...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Ixodes baergi

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Ixodes baergi Distribution In the US, Ixodes baergi occurs in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas. It also occurs in Ontario, Canada and it may be present undetected elsewhere in association with its typical hosts, cliff swallows. Hosts Ixodes baergi are associated with their host, the cliff swallow. Larvae and nymphs feed on adult birds, whereas adult females feed on nestlings and have a specific drop-off rhythm that occurs between 2200 (10 p.m.) and 0400 hrs. (4 a.m.). Males were not collected from hosts; they rested nearby (on culvert walls), suggesting that they may not feed as adults. In Texas, this species appears to overwinter as larvae. Vector Status An uncharacterized, transovarially transmitted arbovirus (Bunyaviridae), was isolated from I. baergi in Oklahoma. Resources H Joel Hutcheson, James W Mertins, Boris C Kondratieff,...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Ixodes brunneus

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Ixodes brunneus Distribution I. brunneus is an ectoparasite of avians, migratory passerines in particular, and, because of this strong host association, it can be found in any of the United States. This tick’s known distribution in the US includes Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan; in Canada it occurs in Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Ontario. We now add Colorado to the US distribution, based on a recent collection by our citizen science partners at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. On May 17, 2018, one larval stage I. brunneus was collected from an American yellow warbler, Setophaga petechia, in Jefferson County. The specimen has been...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Ixodes howelli

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Ixodes howelli Distribution The geographic distribution for this little-known species includes at least AK, CA, CO, MT, and TX but, like I. baergi, it may be more widespread. Its presence in Colorado is based on a single nymph collected in Weld County in 1943 from a prairie falcon and identified by Kohls and Ryckman (1962). Hosts Hosts are primarily cliff swallows; but also other birds that may nest nearby, including the gray-crowned rosy finch, the prairie falcon; and the gyrfalcon. Vector Status This tick currently has no known medical or veterinary importance. Resources H Joel Hutcheson, James W Mertins, Boris C Kondratieff, Monica M White, Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases of Colorado, Including New State Records for Argas radiatus (Ixodida: Argasidae) and Ixodes brunneus (Ixodida: Ixodidae), Journal of Medical Entomology, tjaa232, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa232[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="6175" img_size="" add_caption="yes" onclick="link_image"][/vc_column][/vc_row]...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Ixodes kingi

October 22, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Ixodes kingi (the rotund tick) Distribution This hard tick occurs throughout western North America and occasionally in the east. Its distribution in the USA includes AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, KS, MI, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, and WY; collections in the eastern USA (GA, MD, and OH) are dubious. In Canada, it occurs in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. It is commonly found in prairie habitats, but may also occur in shrubland and forested habitats. Hosts This species has a wide range of host associations: 19 species of carnivores including domestic dogs and cats, weasels, and American badgers; 40 species of rodents; 5 species of lagomorphs; and humans. Differences in morphometrics have been found in host associations in areas west...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Ixodes marmotae

December 10, 2020

Ticks In Colorado

[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Ixodes marmotae Distribution Distribution for this species includes, in the United States, CO, ID, MT, OR, UT, WA, and WY, and in Canada, British Columbia. Hosts Hosts are rodents, including marmots, porcupines, woodrats, and ground squirrels. Vector Status No reported medical or veterinary importance for this tick species has been found to date. Resources H Joel Hutcheson, James W Mertins, Boris C Kondratieff, Monica M White, Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases of Colorado, Including New State Records for Argas radiatus (Ixodida: Argasidae) and Ixodes brunneus (Ixodida: Ixodidae), Journal of Medical Entomology, tjaa232, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa232[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="6175" img_size="" add_caption="yes" onclick="link_image"][/vc_column][/vc_row]...

Hard Ticks (Ticks In Colorado)

Additional Resources

Lyme Disease

Babesiosis

Anaplasmosis

Heartland Virus

Colorado Tick Fever

Borrelia miyamotoi

Ehrlichiosis

Powassan Virus

Rickettsia

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Tularemia

Tick Borne Relapsing Fever

STARI

Pacific Coast Tick Fever

Bourbon Virus

Bartonella

Q-Fever

Tick Paralysis

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Ticks In Colorado