Western dog tick
Dermacentor similis
The western dog tick is a small tick from the western United States. Ticks are not insects. They have eight legs and are cousins of spiders. It looks almost exactly like the American dog tick from the east, and for a long time people thought they were the same animal.
Fun fact: this one is not an insect. It is an arachnid with eight legs, a cousin of the spiders.
Lives in
The western United States
Can it hurt you?
Dangerous: look, do not touch
Ticks bite and can carry germs that make people and pets sick. Look, do not touch, and tell a grown-up if you find a tick on you or your pet.
What does it eat?
It drinks blood from animals. Its close cousin feeds on three different animals during its life.
Ticks: how to stay safe
- In Estonia, the castor bean tick and the taiga tick can carry Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.
- Ticks wait on grass stems, from ankle to knee height. Long trousers tucked into socks and light clothes help you spot them.
- After playing outside, check your body, your hair and your pets for ticks.
- Found a tick? A grown-up should take it out quickly with fine tweezers or a tick tool: hold it close to the skin and pull slowly. No oil or alcohol on it. Then wash the spot.
- There is a vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis, for children too from one year old. Ask your doctor.
- If in the weeks after a bite you get a fever, feel ill or see a red patch that grows, go to a doctor.
How fast is it?
Western dog tick about 0.02 km/h (0.01 mph)
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Scientists studied its genes and body shape and found that the dog ticks of the east and the west are two different species.
2
Its eastern twin is called the American dog tick.
3
Scientists are still finding out which animals it feeds on and which germs it can carry.
you asked
Most asked questions about Western dog tick
?Is a tick an insect?
No. A tick has eight legs and is related to spiders.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dermacentor similis
- Group
- Scorpions, ticks and friends
- Family
- Ixodidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Ixodida > Ixodidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Dermacentor similis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Dogsonline. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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