American Dog Tick
The preference to feast on domestic dog is what gets this tick its name. The tick is common in the United States, but the populations seem to be highly concentrated in South Florida and Massachusetts. The ticks are also known as wood ticks.
Appearance
Adult ticks are brownish and have yellow or white markings. The females spot marbled markings on the upper front body surface, whereas the males have similar marking across the entire upper body surface. Just like the rest of tick species, the American dog tick larvae have a total of 6 legs and adults have 8 and have oval flat bodies. Before feeding, they measure 3/16 of an inch but this extends to 5/8th of an inch after feeding.
Life cycle
One amazing fact about the American dog tick is that it feeds on three different hosts through developmental stages of larva, nymph and adult. The females detach from hosts to lay eggs under leaves or where there is heavy vegetation. A female can hatch up to 5,000 eggs and the larvae emerge and attach on small mammals like mice to feed on. They later drop off the host and skin, casting takes place, making eight legged nymphs which attaché to another small mammal to survive. When they grow into larger adults, they will then seek larger hosts like the domestic dogs, cats, coyotes, livestock, deer and even humans. The development takes between 3 months and 2 years, depending on how favorable the weather conditions are.
Habits and risks
American dog ticks bite and unfortunately they can spread diseases like tularemia and fever. They do not fly and instead lay in wait on vegetation in fields, parks, vacant lots and wooded paths to attach to the host. The tick can survive indoors and pets are suspects to bring it into the house or your clothing can also bring a few into the house. Removal of the ticks from your pet should be done using forceps or tweezers instead of bare fingers because squeezing the body fluids can increase disease spread when they contact the mouth, mucous membrane and eyes.
Control
- It can be hard to control the pest ticks, but a few measures can make a huge difference on your property.
- Keep the grass cut low, especially around trees, garages, sheds and fences
- Eliminate leave piles and sticks and any other organic debris they can live and hide in
- Manage garbage properly to keep hosts like mice and rats from your property. You should also eliminate access points by installing chimney caps and attic vent screen among others
- Use repellents with DEET when going to wooded areas to avoid bringing them home
- Wear long sleeved shirts, long pants and boots when going to suspect areas and keep the colors light
- Check pets and treat them when necessary to prevent infestations
- Call in pest professional to inspect the property and treat your exterior perimeter or entire property with most suitable pest products to control and reduce their populations on your property
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Palm Beach County: West Palm Beach , Boca Raton , Boynton Beach , Delray Beach , Greenacres , Jupiter , Lake Worth , Palm Beach Gardens , Royal Palm Beach and Wellington .
Monroe County: Key Largo , Islamorada , Marathon and Key West.
Ants: Acrobat Ant, Allegheny Mound Ant, Argentine Ant, Big-headed Ant, Carpenter Ant, Citronella Ant, Crazy Ant, Field Ant, Fire Ant, Ghost Ant, Harvester Ant, Little Black Ant, Moisture Ant, Odorous House Ant, Pavement Ant, Pharaoh Ant, Texas Leaf Cutter Ant, Thief Ant, Velvety Tree Ant and White-footed Ant.
Bitings Insects: Bed Bugs, Bird Lice, Cat Flea, House Mosquito, Human Head Lice, Kissing Bug, Pubic Lice and Thrips
Mosquitoes: Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes-Aegypti Mosquito and Culex Mosquito.
Cockroaches: American Cockroach, Asian Cockroach, Australian Cockroach, Brown Banded Cockroach, Cuban Cockroach, Florida Woods Cockroach, German Cockroach, Oriental Cockroach, Smoky Brown Cockroach, Surinam Cockroach and Woods Cockroach.
Flies: Blow Fly and Bottle Fly, Cluster Fly, Crane Fly, Face Fly, Flesh Fly, Fruit Fly, Fungus Gnat, House Fly, Drain Fly and Phorid Fly.
Rodents: Deer Mouse, House Mouse, Norway Rat, Pack Rat, Roof Rat, Vole and White-footed Mouse.
Spiders: Black Widow Spider , Brown Recluse Spider, Cellar Spider, Crab Spider, Domestic House Spider, Funnelweb Spider, Garden Spider, Ground Spider, Hobo Spider, House Spider, Jumping Spider, Spiny-backed Orb Weaver Spider, Tarantula, Wolf Spider and Yellow Sac Spider.
Stinging Pests: Africanized Honeybee, American Dog Tick, Bald-faced Hornet, Bed Bugs, Bird Lice, Bird Mite, Deer Tick, Brown Dog Tick, Bumblebee, Carpenter Bee, Cat Flea, European Hornet, Fire Ant, Honeybee, Human Head Lice, Kissing Bug, Lone Star Tick, Paper Wasp, Scorpion, Soft Tick, Thrips and Yellow Jacket.
Termites: Dampwood Termite, Drywood Termite, Formosan Subterranean Termite and Subterranean Termite.
Ticks and Mites: American Dog Tick, Bird Mite, Black-legged Tick, Brown Dog Tick, Clover Mite, Lone Star Tick and Soft Tick.
Other Pests: American Spider Beetle, Bean Weevil, Cigarette Beetle, Cowpea Weevil, Dried Fruit Beetle, Drugstore Beetle, Foreign Grain Beetles, Indian Meal Moth, Larder Beetle, Mediterranean Flour Moth, Red or Confused Flour Beetle, Rice & Granary Weevils, Sawtoothed & Merchant, Grain Beetles, Shiny Spider Beetle, Cabinet Beetles, Centipedes & Millipedes, Chinch Bugs and Earwigs.
