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Summary
of Napa County Ticks
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Scientific
Name
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Common Name
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Habitat/Ecology
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Hosts
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Vector
Potential/ Diseases
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Argas brevippes
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Short-legged Bird Argassid
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Life cycle from egg to
adult is 48-82 days. Adults have
been known to live up to one year without feeding. Lives in close association with birds. Not commonly collected.
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Birds, especially Owls,
Mearns' Gilded Flicker, Sparrow Hawks, Violet-Green Swallows, and Cactus
Wrens
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None known
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Ornithodoros coriaceus
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Pajahuello
Tick
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Life cycle from egg to
adult lasts more than one year.
Commonly found in the bedding/resting areas of deer and cattle,
especially in chaparral under oaks and brush. Larvae feed on the host for up to 9 days, nymphs about 1 1/2
hours, and adults no more than 50 minutes.
Nymphs have seven instars, each requiring a blood meal.
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Cattle, deer, and most
warm blooded animals. Humans are
accidental hosts.
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None known. Bites tend to cause severe responses in
humans ranging from painful inflammatory wounds to severe allergic
reactions.
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Boophilus annulatus
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Cattle
Tick
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Life cycle completed on a
single host and lasts from 39 - 259 days (egg to engorged adult). Females known to produce 2000 to more
than 4000 eggs. Larvae climb to tips of vegetation and attach to passing
hosts.
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Usually cattle although
deer, horses, sheep, goats and buffalo can serve as hosts.
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Vector of Texas Cattle
Fever (Babesia bigemina) to cattle
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Dermacentor occidentalis
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Pacific Coast Tick
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Common, widespread
Californian tick. Adults are found
year-round with peak activity in April and May. Nymphs are most common during spring and summer.
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Adult hosts tend to be
cattle, horses, deer and humans.
Rare on dogs and bears.
Nymphs tend to feed on rodents and other small mammals.
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Capable of transmitting
many diseases. Vector of bovine
anaplasmosis. Has been found naturally
infected with Colorado Tick Fever virus, the Rickettsia of Q Fever and the
bacterium that causes Tularemia. Known to cause tick paralysis in cattle,
horses and deer. Spotted fever
group Rickettsiae have been found in ticks collected from Mendocino
County. Bite wounds are commonly
mistaken for wounds caused by biting insects and spiders.
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Dermacentor variabilis
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American
Dog Tick
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Widespread Californian
tick. Life cycle can be completed
in less than one year or take longer than two years if suitable hosts are
not available. Adults are present
year-round while nymphs and larvae are most active late winter to
summer. Adult females may take up
to 13 days to complete feeding on a host and can produce as many as 6500
eggs during their lifetime.
Immature ticks are capable of surviving extreme winter temperatures.
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Dogs are the preferred
host although adults will feed on humans and many other species of large
wild and domesticated mammals.
Larvae and nymphs tend to feed on rodents and rabbits.
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Important vector of Rocky Mountain
Spotted Fever, especially in the Eastern United States. Vector of Tularemia to humans. Known to cause tick paralysis.
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Haemaphysalis leporispalustris
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Rabbit
Tick
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Widely distributed
throughout the western hemisphere.
Adult and nympal ticks
present year-round although most common in the spring. Larval ticks are found spring, summer
and fall.
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Adults feed exclusively
on rabbits. Larvae and nymphs tend to
feed on rodents and ground frequenting birds.
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Important in maintaining Rocky Mountain
Spotted Fever and Tularemia
in reservoir animals in nature but does not transmit these diseases to
humans since this tick does not bite humans.
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Ixodes angustus
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Widely distributed
throughout North America. Commonly
found in rodent nests and rarely on hosts.
Not known to quest for hosts like many other tick species.
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Rodents are the preferred
host, especially meadow mice (Microtus sp.) and deer mice (Peromyscus
sp.). Rarely bites humans or
dogs.
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None known.
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Ixodes auritulus
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Not commonly encountered although
it appears activity occurs year-round.
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Tends to feed on birds,
especially ground frequenting galliform and passerine birds.
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None known.
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Ixodes pacificus
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Western Black-legged Tick
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Widespread Californian
Tick. Life cycle can be completed
in less than one year but usually lasts about two years. Females overwinter, laying eggs in the
spring on the undersides of brush and dried leaves. Eggs hatch during early summer. Nymphs and adults seek hosts (quest)
from the tips of vegetation while larval ticks find hosts close to the
ground. Most commonly encountered Ixodes
tick in California. Adults occur
year-round but are most commonly found November through May. Nymphs are most commonly found March
through June but can be found year-round.
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Immature stages commonly
found on Alligator Lizards, Fence Lizards, and ground inhabiting
birds. Sometimes found on small
rodents and rabbits. Large mammals
are also important hosts for larvae and nymphs. Adults are common on deer and other large mammals (dogs,
bears, cats, horses, humans, etc.).
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Vector of Lyme Disease. Has caused tick paralysis in a
dog. Bites can cause painful
sores.
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Isodes
woodi
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Not common. Mostly found on wood rats or in their
nests in the foothill and low mountainous regions of California.
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Primary host is the wood
rat. Sometimes found on
skunks.
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None known.
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