Pest Organisms / Blacklegged Tick
Identification
for Blacklegged Tick
Unfed adults are about the size of a sesame seed, with a flat, oval, eight-legged body that is dark reddish to chocolate brown. Source: https://entomology.umn.edu/blacklegged-tick Source: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-2073 The species is named for its dark legs, and the adult female has a red-orange rear body behind a darker shield, the scutum. Reported sizes vary: females run about 1/8 inch (roughly 3 mm), males slightly smaller. [UF/IFAS; University of Maine] Source: https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN300 Source: https://extension.umaine.edu/ticks/maine-ticks/deer-tick-or-black-legged-tick/ Nymphs are far smaller, about a poppy seed (1.5 mm), and six-legged larvae are tinier still, under 1 mm. Source: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ent-0096