Tick species identification

Rocky Mountain wood tick

What to look for

Brown with ornate pale markings; adults resemble American dog ticks, making geography and close dorsal photos important.

Rocky mountain wood tick photo

Compare more than color alone. Sex, life stage, feeding, angle, and lighting can change what the markings look like.

Adult female Rocky Mountain wood tick with a pale patterned shield and reddish body — Adult female. A pale ornate shield over a reddish-brown body, much like the American dog tick. Photo: James Gathany, CDC PHIL #10865, public domain.

Known disease associations

— Rocky Mountain spotted fever
— Colorado tick fever
— Tularemia

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.

Not sure whether yours is a deer tick or a dog/wood tick? See the deer tick vs. dog tick comparison with photos.

References: CDC tick information.