Tick species identification
Blacklegged (deer) tick
What to look for
Small, reddish-brown to black, with no ornate white markings. Unfed nymphs can be about the size of a poppy seed.
Known disease associations
- — Lyme disease
- — Anaplasmosis
- — Babesiosis
- — Borrelia miyamotoi disease
- — Powassan virus disease
Finding this species does not mean the tick carried a pathogen or that transmission occurred.
Photos need context
Feeding, life stage, image angle, and damage can change how a tick looks. A useful identification weighs several visible traits together and states uncertainty when the photo does not show enough detail.
Reference: CDC tick information.