Tick Awareness Canada Association TACA
TICK IDENTIFIER
Black Legged Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis)
WHERE FOUND
Widely distributed across Canada.
TRANSMITS
Borrelia burgdorferi and B. mayonii (which cause Lyme disease), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis), B. miyamotoi disease (a form of relapsing fever), Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis (ehrlichiosis), Babesia microti (babesiosis), and Powassan virus (Powassan virus disease).
COMMENTS
The greatest risk of being bitten exists in the spring, summer, and fall. However, adult ticks may be out searching for a host any time winter temperatures are above freezing. All life stages bite humans, but nymphs and adult females are most commonly found on people.
Western Black Legged tick
(Ixodes pacificus)
WHERE FOUND
BC, Western USA, Mexico
TRANSMITS
Adult western blacklegged readily attacks humans in Canada. Can transmit Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), cause severe allergic reactions, Bartonella henselae, Tularaemia, HGA in horses and dogs and Tick paralysis in animals.
Brown Dog Tick
(Rhipilcephalus sanguineus)
WHERE FOUND
Eastern Canada Cosmopolitan
TRANSMITS
it is a vector of numerous pathogens, some of the most important of which are canine ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia canis), canine babesiosis and canine hepatozoonosis in dogs, and tick bite fever (Rickettsia conorii) in humans.
COMMENTS
There are numerous reports of it having become established in sheltered environments, including dog kennels and even inside people’s homes. It readily feeds on humans as well as dogs.
Lone Star Tick
(Amblyomma americanum)
WHERE FOUND
ON, QC, Eastern USA, but more commonly in the southeastern states. It’s found as north as Iowa and Illinois in the midwest to parts of Maine down into the Gulf Coast states
TRANSMITS
Ehrlichiosis, tularmemia, Heartland virus disease, Bourbon virus disease, Southern tick-associated rash illness, alpha-gal allergy
COMMENTS
Infection Prevalences of Common Tick-borne Pathogens in Adult Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) and American Dog Ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) in Kentucky
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3183783/
American Dog (wood) tick
(Dermacentor variabilis)
WHERE FOUND
Western, Central and Eastern Canada, Central and eastern USA, plusCA, OR, WA, ID, TX"
TRANSMITS
The pathogens responsible for Lyme disease, tularaemia, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever in humans have been isolated or detected in D. variabilis collected in Canada. Dermacentor variabilis has been incriminated as the vector for the protozoan, Cytauxzoon felis, which causes a fatal disease in domestic cats in parts of the southeastern United States. Can transmit the equine piroplasm, Babesia
caballi, to horses and that this pathogen is successfully transmitted transovarially.
Rocky Mountain wood tick
(Dermacentor andersoni)
WHERE FOUND
BC, AB, SK, Western USA
TRANSMITS
Powassan virus has been isolated from D. andersoni in the US, thus, this agent may be potentially present in D. andersoni in Canada. Tick paralysis caused by the bite of female D. andersoni has been frequently reported in British Columbia since about 1910.
COMMENTS
Adult ticks feed primarily on large mammals. Larvae and nymphs feed on small rodents. Adult ticks are primarily associated with pathogen transmission to humans.
Pacific coast tick
(Dermacentor occidentalis)
WHERE FOUND
found along the western coastal regions of the U.S and Canada
TRANSMITS
All life stages of this tick can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia rickettsii) to humans, cats, and dogs. Nymphs and adults can transmit 364D rickettsiosis (Rickettsia phillipi) to humans, Colordao tick fever, tularemia (Francisella tularensis) to humans, cats, and dogs, and bovine anaplasmosis to cattle.
COMMENTS
These ticks also have been implicated in cases of tick-bite paralysis in cattle, deer, and ponies
Gulf Coast tick
(Amblyomma maculatum)
WHERE FOUND
Canada, Southern USA
TRANSMITS
Amblyomma maculatum is not widely known for its ability to transmit pathogens. It is a vector of Rickettsia parkeri, an intermediate host for Hepatozoon americanum (American canine hepatozoonosis in dogs) and as an agent of tick paralysis in humans
Winter/moose tick
(Dermacentor albipictus)
WHERE FOUND
Canada, North and Central America
TRANSMITS
Has been shown experimentally to act as a vector of a related bacterium, Anaplasma ovis, to sheep; can transmit the equine piroplasm, Babesia caballi , to horses. Lyme bacteria (STUDY)and Francisella-like endosymbionts have been detected in D. albipictus in several locations, including Alberta. All infections can be transovarially transmitted.
Groundhog tick
(Ixodes cookei)
WHERE FOUND
Eastern Canada, Eastern USA
TRANSMITS
Lyme disease (STUDY), Powassan virus, I. cookei is the vector for a filarial nematode, Ackertia marmotae Webster.
COMMENTS
This tick is most often found on medium-sized mammals, including woodchuck,skunks, racoon, and orcupine. Carnivores, such as marten, fisher, fox, dogs, and cats are frequently infested, and humans may serve as hosts.
Mouse tick
(Ixodes spinipalpis)
WHERE FOUND
Pacific Coastal and Mountain States and Provinces of the USA and Canada
TRANSMITS
Lyme disease-like illness (Borrelia bissetti), human granulocytic ehrlichiosis/anaplasmosis, and human babesiosis, Borrelia genospecies 2, another member of the B. burgdorferi species complex (STUDY)(i.e., s.l.) Powassan virus, Anaplasma phagocytophilum
Pale Beaver tick
(Ixodes banksi)
WHERE FOUND
ON, MB, Eastern and Southern USA
TRANSMITS
Ixodes banksi has been shown to transmit the bacteria that cause tularaemia as well as scientific evidence of it transmitting Lyme bacteria (STUDY)
COMMENTS
This tick mainly parasites beavers.
Rabbit tick
(Haemaphysalis leporis-palustris)
WHERE FOUND
Canada, USA, Mexico, Argentina
TRANSMITS
Lyme disease (STUDY), and research found two strains of a new species of rickettsia, Rickettsia canadensis, in this tick near Ottawa, Ontario. It's role in the epidemiology of borreliosis in North America is unknown, despite the potential for its infection and for transovarial transmission. It occurs in every province in Canada.
No common name
(Ixodes angustus)
WHERE FOUND
Canada, Northern USA, northeastern Asia
TRANSMITS
Reported as a competent vector of the agent that causes Lyme borreliosis, Borrelia burgdorferi (STUDY) and Babesia microti. In Canada, it is also known to feed on cats and dogs, perhaps as a result of their preverence of small mammal hosts; it is known to attack humans as well.
Vector competence of Ixodes angustus (Acari: Ixodidae) for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.
No common name
(Ixodes muris)
WHERE FOUND
Eastern Canada, Eastern USA
TRANSMITS
There is no definitive evidence that I. muris is an important vector of pathogens to humans, though research has suggested its involvement in transmission of Babesia microti in Connecticut. Ixodes muris is a parasite of small mammals, including mice, voles, and shrews, and is known to feed on cats, dogs and humans. John Scott has identified this tick to be a carrier of the Lyme bacteria. (STUDY)
Other Ticks found Across Canada
There are numerous other species that are found in Canada. Many are not very photgenic and images are very difficult to locate, however here is some information on them.
https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/cpv13168/$FILE/tick-summary-2017.pdf
Ixodes kingi (the rotund tick)
WHERE FOUND
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.
COMMENTS
It has been recorded from domestic animals, including cats and dogs, several species of carnivores and rodents, and a few lagomorphs. Hosts include pocket gophers, kangaroo rats, and sigmodontine mice in areas west of the Rocky Mountains; and carnivores, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs in areas east of the Rockies. It is known to bite humans rarely
Ixodes ochotonae (pika tick)
WHERE FOUND
In Canada, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. (Foley and Piovia-Scott (2014))
TRANSMIT
detected Anaplasma phagocytophilum DNA in Ixodes ochotonae ticks from California.
COMMENTS
Hosts include primarily pikas and woodrats, but also chipmunks, pocket gophers, voles, and native mice.
Otobius megnini (the spinose ear tick)
WHERE FOUND
Spinose ear ticks are generally associated with semiarid or arid environments such as those found in the southwestern US, however they can also be found in other climate areas due to transportation of livestock.
COMMENTS
This one-host tick attaches most often deep within the host ear canal as larvae and drop from that host as engorged nymphs; adults do not feed. Hosts include wild and domestic ungulates, especially pronghorns, and occasionally humans. Larvae and nymphs usually remain within the ears of their host. Fully grown nymphs and adults live off of the host, but still within the host’s general environment. They usually prefer dry, protected places such as in cracks and crevices or under logs and fence posts.
sources used for images
Photographer M. Plosky
https://pbase.com/mplonsky/ticks
TAXONOMY BROWSER: Ixodes spinipalpis
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=447357
Ixodes spinipalpis ->species page
http://entomology.museums.ualberta.ca/searching_species_details.php?s=31520
Other Ticks Found in Maine
http://www.ticksinmaine.com/ticks/other-ticks
Tick Taxa of Canada, Alphabetically by Family and Genus
http://canacoll.org/Hym/Staff/Gibson/apss/ticktaxa.htm
These are the TICKS known to carry and transmit Lyme disease
US tick collection link
http://us-tick-key.klacto.net/specieslist.html
University of Michigan
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ixodes/classification/
http://biodiversitygenomics.net/
https://tickencounter.org/tick_identification/gulf_coast_tick#top
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/usntc_key/74/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/us-national-tick-collection https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Parasitic_Insects,_Mites_and_Ticks:_Genera_of_Medical_and_Veterinary_Importance/Hard_ticks
Other reference studies
Lyme Disease Bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato, Detected in Multiple Tick Species at Kenora, Ontario, Canada
Extensive Distribution of the Lyme Disease Bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato, in Multiple Tick Species Parasitizing Avian and Mammalian Hosts across Canada
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/4/131/htm
Vector competence of Ixodes angustus (Acari: Ixodidae) for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10823359
Ability of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi to infect rodents and three species of human-biting ticks (blacklegged tick, American dog tick, lone star tick) (Acari:Ixodidae).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9220680
Lyme disease in Canada
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1268070/pdf/cmaj00172-0051.pdf
Tickborne Diseases of the United States
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/tickID.html
Ticks in Colorado
https://coloradoticks.org/the-ticks/other-colorado-ticks/
A Handbook to the Ticks of Canada Biological Survey of Canada 2016
Medical and Veterinary Entomology Chapter 27
file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/nicholson2019.pdf
Canadian Tick List
Worldwide Tick species and the Borrelia strains they carry
