Image of Rocky Mountain Wood Tick

Description:

This photograph depicts a dorsal view of a female Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni. This tick specie is a known North American vector of Rickettsia rickettsii, which is the etiologic agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Dermacentor andersoni is found in the Rocky Mountain states and in southwestern Canada. The life cycle of this tick may require up to 2 to 3 years for completion. Adult wood ticks feed primarily on large mammals, while the larvae and nymphs feed on small rodents. See PHIL 10869, for a side-by-side comparative view of both a male and female D. andersoni tick.
Created: 2008