Ornate cow tick
The ornate cow tick is a small tick with a pretty pattern on its back. Like all ticks it has eight legs, because it is a cousin of the spiders. It climbs onto animals and people to drink their blood.
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 big is it?
How long is it?
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Fun facts
A female that has just had a big meal can be about 1 centimetre long.
One female can lay 3,000 to 4,500 eggs.
In its life it lives on three different animals, one after the other.
A female can stay on an animal for 9 to 15 days while she feeds.
Most asked questions about Ornate cow tick
?Is a tick an insect?
No. A tick has eight legs, so it is a cousin of the spiders, not an insect.
?Where do ornate cow ticks live?
In Europe and western Asia, mostly in woods and meadows.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dermacentor reticulatus
- Group
- Scorpions, ticks and friends
- Family
- Ixodidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Ixodida > Ixodidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Ornate dog tick, Meadow tick, Marsh tick
Where the facts come from
- Dermacentor reticulatus (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 Christian Fischer. CC BY-SA 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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