Tick species identification
Western blacklegged tick
What to look for
Dark legs and a reddish-brown body without ornate white markings; closely resembles the eastern blacklegged tick.
Known disease associations
- — Lyme disease
- — Anaplasmosis
- — Borrelia miyamotoi 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.