This document provides a guide for identifying different tick species. It begins with an overview of tick taxonomy, then describes the key morphological features used to identify ticks, including their life stages, geographical distribution, hosts, life cycle, and pathogenesis. The guide highlights characteristics such as scutum pattern, festoons, capitulum length, and genital aperture location that can be used to distinguish among common tick genera like Ixodes, Dermacentor, and Amblyomma. Even engorged ticks can often still be identified by these visual features along with context clues about location and time of collection.

1. Tick Identification Guide
Dr Karan Veer Singh,
Scientist
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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Subclass: Acari
Order: Ixodida
Family: Ixodidae
Genus/ Species:
Guide to Tick ID
Morphological features
Geographical distribution
Host
Life cycle
Pathogenesis

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FEMALE MALE NYMPH LARVA
LIFE STAGES

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LIFE CYCLE OF TICK FAMILY

9. From left to right, Ixodes ricinus; larva, nymph,
unfed adult male, unfed adult female, fully
engorged adult female (scale mm).
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10. Scutum (shield) pattern
Ticks have a dorsal scutum or "shield" and each species has a unique
pattern or color. Ixodes ticks often have a black/brown solid colored
scutum. Whereas, Dermacentor and Amblyomma ticks each have a
patterned scutum.
Unfed adult stage characteristics
Festoons
Festoons are small areas separated by short grooves on the back
margin of the tick and helps distinguish all other ticks from Ixodes
ticks, which lack festoons.
Other characteristics to consider
The length of the tick's Capitulum (Mouthparts) can help determine
the type of tick. Dermacentor ticks have shorter mouthparts than Ixodes or
Amblyomma .
This also contributes to how easy it is to remove each species of tick. In
order to tell the gender of a tick, you can look at the size of the scutum.
Female adult stage ticks have a smaller scutum, whereas a male's scutum
covers nearly the entire dorsal (top) of their body.
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Scutum (shield) pattern

12. What if the tick was found engorged? How can I
identify it then?
Even when you remove an engorged tick, it's still possible
to determine what kind of tick it is by the scutum, your
location, and time of year.
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14. Nymphs and Adult females
When a specimen is obtained with a scutum that does not cover
the entire dorsal surface, it is important to check the ventral
surface for the presence of a genital aperture (see picture).
The absence of the genital aperture will indicate that the
specimen obtained is in fact a nymph and not an adult female
and so this guide will not be effective at identifying the
specimen.
The position of the genital aperture can vary with species,
however it is generally located between either coxae IV or coxae
III.
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Ambylomma

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