Male Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick
A male Brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus from a superior, or dorsal view looking down on this åÒhard tickåÕsåÓ scutum, or keratinized åÒshieldåÓ which entirely covers its back, identifying it as a male. In the female, the dorsal abdomen is only partially covered. Though not the primary vector for Rocky Mountain spotted fever like the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, and the åÒRocky Mountain wood tickåÓ D. andersoni, R. sanguineus has been found to be a less-common vector as well. This tick is distributed throughout the world. It also is known to transmit diseases to animals including canine babesiosis, bovine anaplasmosis, East Coast fever and Texas cattle fever. It can also spread tularemia, and tick-borne typhus to human beings.
Size: 2550px × 3632px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: anaplasmosis, arachnid, arthropod, babesiosis, brown, cattle, coast, diseases, dog, east, ectoparasite, fever, male, mountain, parasite, rhipicephalus, rickettsia, rickettsii, rmsf, rocky, sanguineus, spotted, texas, tick, tick-borne, tularemia, typhus, vector, zoonoses, zoonotic
