''Dermacentor reticulatus'', also known as the ornate cow tick, ornate dog tick, meadow tick, and marsh tick, is a species of

tick Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...

from the family

Ixodidae The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, one of the three families of ticks, consisting of over 700 species. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'sof ...

. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

for the genus ''

Dermacentor ''Dermacentor'' is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with native species on all continents except Australia. Most occur in the Nearctic realm. Hosts of ''Dermacentor'' ticks incl ...

''. ''D. reticulatus'' is an ornate tick. The female varies in size from 3.8–4.2 mm (unfed) to 10 mm when engorged after feeding. The unfed male is 4.2–4.8 mm long. ''D. reticulatus'' is found in Europe and Western Asia, generally in wooded areas.

Lifecycle

''D. reticulartus'' has a three-host development cycle. The adult female remains on a host for 9–15 days, and can lay 3000–4500 eggs, although the total number of eggs depends on the size of the female. The larva hatches from the egg in 14–21 days.

Disease transmission

''D. reticulatus'' is a

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

of various disease organisms, including ''

Babesia canis ''Babesia canis'' is a parasite that infects red blood cells and can lead to anemia. This is a species that falls under the overarching genus ''Babesia''. It is transmitted by the brown dog tick (''Rhipicephalus sanguineus'') and is one of the mo ...

'', ''

Francisella tularensis ''Francisella tularensis'' is a pathogenic species of Gram-negative coccobacillus, an aerobic bacterium. It is nonspore-forming, nonmotile, and the causative agent of tularemia, the pneumonic form of which is often lethal without treatment. It is ...

'', ''

Coxiella burnetti ''Coxiella burnetii'' is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, and is the causative agent of Q fever. The genus ''Coxiella'' is morphologically similar to ''Rickettsia'', but with a variety of genetic and physiological differences. ''C. ...

'', ''

Theileria equi ''Theileria'' is a genus of parasites that belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa, and is closely related to ''Plasmodium''. Two ''Theileria'' species, ''T. annulata'' and ''T. parva'', are important cattle parasites. ''T. annulata'' causes tropical t ...

'', and several ''

Rickettsia ''Rickettsia'' is a genus of nonmotile, gram-negative, nonspore-forming, highly pleomorphic bacteria that may occur in the forms of cocci (0.1 μm in diameter), bacilli (1–4 μm long), or threads (up to about 10 μm long). The term "rickett ...

'' species, such as ''

slovaca.

References

Ticks Parasitic arthropods of mammals Ixodidae Animals described in 1794 {{acari-stub

Lifecycle

Disease transmission

See also

References