Ixodes pacificus

style="background:#Template:Taxobox colour;"|Ixodes pacificus
style="background:#Template:Taxobox colour;" | Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Acari Family: Ixodidae Genus: Ixodes Species: I. pacificus
Binomial name
I. pacificus Cooley & Kohls, 1943
File:Ixodes pacificus range map.svg

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Ixodes pacificus, the Western black-legged tick, is a species of Ixodes, a parasitic tick found on the western coast of North America. It is the principal vector of Lyme Disease in that region.

Life Cycle

General Tick Life Cycle

This image displays an example of the tick lifecycle, based on stages and the months that they are most likely to occur during.

• A tick's life cycle is composed of four stages: hatching (egg), nymph (six legged), nymph (eight legged), and an adult.
• Ticks require blood meal to survive through their life cycle.
• Hosts for tick blood meals include mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Ticks will most likely transfer between different hosts during the different stages of their life cycle.
• Humans are most often targeted during the nymph and adult stages of the life cycle.
• Life cycle is also dependent on seasonal variation.
• Ticks will go from eggs to larva during the summer months, infecting bird or rodent host during the larval stage.
• Larva will infect the host from the summer until the following spring, at which point they will progress into the nymph stage.
• During the nymph stage, a tick will most likely seek a mammal host (including humans).
• A nymph will remain with the selected host until the following fall at which point it will progress into an adult.
• As an adult, a tick will feed on a mammalian host. However unlike previous stages, ticks will prefer larger mammals over rodents.
• The average tick life cycle requires three years for completion.
  • Different species will undergo certain variations within their individual life cycles.

Spread of Tick-borne Disease

• Ticks require blood meals in order to progress through their life cycles.
• The average tick requires 10 minutes to 2 hours when preparing a blood meal.
• Once feeding, releases anesthetic properties into its host, via its saliva.
• A feeding tube enters the host followed by an adhesive-like substance, attaching the tick to the host during the blood meal.
• A tick will feed for several days, feeding on the host blood and ingesting the host's pathogens.
• Once feeding is completed, the tick will seek a new host and transfer any pathogens during the next feeding process.

Geographic Distribution

• Found along the United States Pacific coast
• Most common in Northern California

Gallery

• Common name: western blacklegged tick
• Scientific name: Ixodes pacificus
• Reservoir: birds and small rodents (larvae and nymphs); deer and other mammals (adult ticks)
• Geographic distribution: Pacific coast of the United States
• Disease transmitted: anaplasmosis, Lyme disease

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  Western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus)
  Adapted from CDC

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  Approximate distribution of the Western Blacklegged tick
  Adapted from CDC